


Dealer’s Choice

by saddle_tramp



Series: Gambling On Dreams [3]
Category: Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-18
Updated: 2011-02-18
Packaged: 2017-10-15 18:10:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 34,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saddle_tramp/pseuds/saddle_tramp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rating: R for language and non-graphic sex<br/>Pairing: Chris/Vin established, also Chris/Ezra and Ezra/Vin</p><p>Summary: Sometimes taking care of a friend leads to something you didn’t know you needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

Vin walked into the saloon and headed over to the table where Ezra was sitting with Buck and Nathan at Buck's favorite table right in front of the door. He nodded to Nathan and Buck with a smile when he reached the table. “Afternoon.” He looked at Ezra, adding, “We got the wagon loaded. You ready?”

Ezra smiled and nodded. “Of course.” He looked over at Buck and Nathan as he stood, amused. “If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I believe I can hear Chaucer pawing at his stall door from here.”

Buck snickered, firmly stomping down the thought that Ezra was making a habit of heading out to Chris and Vin’s place every Friday. Ezra could make more gambling on a Friday or Saturday night than any other night of the week, but he didn’t seem to miss it on the weekends he rode out with Chris and Vin. That in itself told Buck more than he wanted to know about how much Ezra enjoyed his weekends at their place, and left him pretty sure he knew what was going on. The story Ezra had told them all about how Chaucer needed the exercise and time to graze just didn’t ring true, not after Ezra leaving the gelding in a stall for most of three years without any obvious regret.

Nathan laughed. “You likely can, as much as you leave that poor horse locked up. When you three plannin’ to be back?”

“Not until Monday mornin’ for me an’ Chris,” Vin said. “We’ve finally got the stuff to finish off the cabin, an’ then there’s post holes to dig.” He looked at Ezra, smirking. “How much we get done depends on if we can get Ezra to do anythin’ but watch.”

Buck firmly quashed the mental image that popped to mind, taking a drink of his beer. Vin did it on purpose, he thought, especially when Buck was around Nathan or JD. Neither of them knew about Chris and Vin, and they had put their heads together and come up their own theory as to why Chris was so much happier these days. Nathan had mentioned one afternoon that he figured it started when Chris and Vin decided to go partners and start raising horses, and JD had been quick to latch on to the idea since that was his dream, too. JD would be ecstatic for months if _he_ had just decided to start a herd of his own, especially with his best friend’s help, so he figured that had to be why Chris was so happy. Nathan was easy to convince that raising horses again really was what had cheered Chris so much, especially when Josiah made a few comments geared towards nudging him that direction.

Buck still didn’t know why Josiah had been told about Chris and Vin’s relationship, but the reclusive old preacher definitely knew. Buck had overheard him tease Vin about not seeing the forest for the trees for so long, and Vin’s reaction had been to laugh and blush and tell Josiah at least he wasn’t the only one who was oblivious. Josiah’s grin then had been one of his widest, and he had commented with one of those riddles of his, talking about the way a broken mustang sometimes wouldn’t flee through an open gate, too cowed to even hope for freedom. Vin had snickered asked Josiah if he was sure it wasn’t the other way around, trying to coax the mustang _into_ a corral and not using the right bait. Josiah had just laughed and let it drop, and Buck still wasn’t sure whether they had been discussing Chris or Ezra, or even which one of them was after the ‘mustang’. He wasn’t sure he _wanted_ to know, either.

“Sunday afternoon for myself, Nathan,” Ezra said with a smile for Nathan, and then he glanced at Vin. “And I will do the cooking in self defense, but no more.”

Vin laughed, looking back at Nathan. “We might not finish the cabin then, but at least we’ll eat pretty good.”

Nathan chuckled, shaking his head. “Won’t starve, anyway.” He grinned. “If I don’t have anyone at the clinic by noon tomorrow, I’ll ride out to lend a hand. It’d be nice to get out of town for a while, and I’m pretty good with a hammer.”

“Just in time to avoid the festivities,” Buck added, snickering. “I bet Josiah’d like to do that too.”

The town’s ladies had decided amongst themselves that their country’s independence should be celebrated over the entire weekend, not just on the Fourth, which was Sunday. There were to be cooking contests for everything from biscuits to chili, a quilting contest, and a dozen little competitions that various businesses in town were sponsoring, from the apple bob for the kids all the way up to a half a dozen horse races being held in and around town Sunday afternoon.

Josiah and Nathan had both decided to trade their shifts earlier in the week so they could visit the ladies in their lives before the weekend festivities. Chris and Vin had quickly volunteered so they would have their weekend free again, as they had managed to do most weekends over the last few months. Nathan had taken Chris’ Sunday afternoon shift to make up for his missed shift Thursday morning, and Josiah had traded his own shift on Thursday afternoon with Vin’s Sunday shift, leaving Saturday for Buck and JD as usual. Chris and Vin were almost always together these days, so the Thursday shifts they agreed to take had gotten double coverage. Chris, Vin, and JD had kept an eye on things in the morning, and then Chris and Vin spent the afternoon with Ezra lounging in front of the saloon or walking the town.

Nathan grinned at Buck. “You got that right. He’s grouchy as an old bear with a sore tooth about Mary tellin’ everyone he’d call the dance tomorrow night. Says he doesn’t even know any to call.”

Vin snickered. “Likely story.”

“Surely he doesn’t expect us to believe that,” Ezra agreed, smirking. “I find it beyond belief that a man so fond of dancing does not know at _least_ one or two reels.”

Nathan snickered. “Same here.”

Chris stopped at the saloon doors, looking over them at his friends. “Buck. Nathan.” He nodded to them and then turned his attention to Vin and Ezra. “You two comin’ anytime soon? I saddled Pony _and_ Chaucer already, and you’re still runnin’ your mouths. With the wagon slowing us down, it’ll be dark before we get home.”

Vin looked over his shoulder at Chris, grinning. “Keep your pants on, cowboy. We’re comin’.” He looked back at Buck and Nathan, tipping his hat to them with a wicked little sparkle in his eyes that made Buck want to throw something at him. “See y’all Monday.” He turned away then, heading for the door where Chris had already disappeared again.

Ezra chuckled softly, nodding to Buck and Nathan. “Gentlemen. Enjoy your weekend.”

Nathan grinned. “Have fun, Ezra.”

Buck snickered as Ezra rolled his eyes and said dryly, “Oh yes, loads.” He turned and began walking away, murmuring to himself, “The things I do for a good horse.”

Nathan managed not to laugh until Ezra was outside and then he looked at Buck, dark eyes twinkling. “Is anyone ever gonna let me in on why Ezra’s _really_ stayin’ with Chris and Vin? He used to let that poor horse sit for weeks on end.”

Buck grinned at Nathan. “Your guess is likely as good as mine, my friend.” He patted Nathan’s shoulder and stood, adding, “I _do_ know that Chaucer was feelin’ his oats and damn near threw Ezra into the loft of the livery about the time Ez started ridin’ him more. Ezra _says_ that had nothing to do with it, but....” Buck trailed off meaningfully, grinning at Nathan, and he wasn’t surprised when Nathan made the connection Buck wanted him to.

Nathan snickered. “Anyone with half a brain knows a horse nice as that has to get some exercise. Keepin’ him in a stall all the time’s beggin’ to get throwed.”

“Makes sense to me too, even if Ezra denied it.” Buck winked at Nathan and then added, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a date with a pretty lady.”

“You always have a date with a pretty lady,” Nathan said, laughing softly and waving a hand at Buck. “Go on, then. Inez promised me a steak dinner for takin’ care of her kitten when it got stepped on, so I’m gonna stick around.”

Buck laughed. “Lucky man!” He headed for the doors, his mind already on Maggie and the fun he’d be having in the very near future.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Peso would do his best to pull things out of the wagon if he was tied behind it when it was as loaded as it was with wood and supplies, so Chris had decided to lead Peso at least until they were well out of town. No one else could safely lead Peso after a full day in a stall, but Chris and Pony were safe enough from Peso’s antics, no matter how Peso might show off. Peso liked Pony and Chris, after all, and with Chris leading him it would be easier to slip the gelding’s halter once they were out of town where Peso wouldn’t cause any trouble. Peso had run loose many times when Vin was driving the wagon and he never failed to either stay nearby or wait for them at home. Peso knew where his rider was headed, after all, and had decided years ago he was going to stay with Vin.

Just then Chris was guiding Pony with one hand and leading Peso with the other, and Peso was already tired of it even though they weren’t even a mile from town yet. Peso leaped and whipped his head to the side as if to prove just that, jerking Chris’ arm but not pawing or kicking even though he could easily have done both, and Vin laughed.

 “You figure we’re far enough out?” Chris called to Vin, looking over his shoulder.

 “Yeah, let him go,” Vin said, amused. “He’ll just head home.”

Chris grinned and looked down at Peso, who was giving him a dirty look. “You heard the man, mule.” He hauled on Peso’s lead and Peso grudgingly let himself be pulled in close to Chris’ knee, shoving Pony’s shoulder with his nose hard enough to make Pony sidestep away. Chris reached over Peso’s head and grabbed the tie on Peso's braided leather halter below his left ear, untying the knot and then letting the halter fall down and off. “There, now get!”

Peso snorted and threw up his head even as the halter was still falling away, leaping away from Pony and into a gallop down the trail, his tail flagged as he gave a few spine-cracking bucks that would have unseated just about any rider. Peso was one of those rare horses that had mastered how to buck without putting his head down first, which meant he could explode without the warning of dropping his head. That little quirk had put more than one man who dared try to ride him into the dirt, and got a few men killed.

Ezra chuckled and kneed Chaucer over closer to Pony now that Peso wasn’t shoving Pony around on the trail, looking amused. “He is most definitely full of himself today.”

Chris grinned at Ezra. “Hell, Peso’s always full of himself. I never saw that horse tired but once.”

Vin laughed and called over the sound of the borrowed team, “He gets tired, he’s just too proud to admit it.”

Ezra grinned over his shoulder at Vin. “Sounds like someone we know well.”

Vin snickered and nodded. “Yeah, he an’ Chris _are_ a lot alike.”

“Me?!” Chris laughed, reining Pony over to the side of the trail. Ezra followed his lead and they both waited for Vin and the wagon to come along side before they started forward next to him. “You’re the one who’s fallen asleep _standin’ up_ ‘cause you wouldn’t admit you were tired,” Chris said then, teasing.

Vin grinned at Chris, not bothering to watch where the horses were going. They had taken the trail many times before and knew where they were going as well as Vin did, or near about. Yosemite almost always rented them the same team of mares, the matched bays who were kept stalled in the livery with the Seven’s own mounts, and they had made the trip out to the ranch quite a few times. Chris had been making noises about just buying them, but the mares were bred and Yosemite wanted to see the foals they produced before he made a decision on selling them.

“An’ who was it slept on guard duty when we was transportin’ those rustlers for the judge?” Vin asked, still grinning.

Ezra snickered. “Both of you, as I recall.” Chris and Vin both laughed, looking at him, and Ezra smirked at them. “Which _might_ have had something to do with the fact you weren’t doing much sleeping the night before in that hotel in Silver City.”

Vin grinned. “An’ just how do you know that?”

Chris snickered, glancing at Vin. “’Cause you’re that loud.”

Ezra smirked a bit wider. “You’re _both_ that loud, and lucky you were at the end of the hall or I would not be the only one you kept awake half the night.” He paused and then added slyly, “Not that you two _stopped_ then, but I was tired enough to sleep through the rest.”

Vin laughed, blushing a bit. “You know you liked listenin’, Ezra.”

“That I cannot deny.” Ezra grinned wickedly. “Why do you think I was tired enough to sleep through the rest?”

Chris snickered, shaking his head a bit. “Come on, you two. You can flirt at home. It’s gettin’ on towards dark and we need to get over that shale in the daylight.” He put his heels to Pony’s sides and the black gelding leapt into an easy canter.

Ezra laughed and urged Chaucer after Pony without a word.

Vin chuckled and shook the reins. “Get up, now.” He whistled softly to the team, flipping the reins again, and the sturdy bay mares broke into a slow canter of their own.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Vin patted the hip of the second bay mare, turning her out in the corral before he closed the gate and leaned against it, smiling. He liked the mares and was hoping Yosemite would be willing to let them go once they had foaled, but he sure wouldn’t bet on it. They were both calm and willing and built real nice for quarter horses, and they were well trained for harness work even though they were very green under saddle. He and Chris weren’t likely to use them as riding mounts anyway so that didn't bother them. They just wanted a team for the wagon so they could stop renting one every time they had something to haul. Quality broodmares who worked in harness would be the perfect solution, and the bays definitely fit that description.

The sun was down but it wasn’t completely dark yet and the moon was rising so there was plenty of light to see by as Vin looked off down the meadow towards where Peso was grazing about halfway between the barn and the treeline. Peso hadn’t been interested in coming up for some feed when they got home and Vin hadn’t wanted to argue with him, instead checking the team’s feet for stones while Chris and Ezra took care of their horses. Peso didn’t really need the grain, after all, and Vin had taken the mares over the trail home faster than he liked to get them past the stretch of shale before the sun went down. He wouldn’t have risked it with a team that didn’t know the road, but he trusted the bays and they had performed just as well as he had come to expect of them.

Vin heard a horse behind him and turned in time to see Ezra stop just outside the barn with Chaucer, and he smiled at how relaxed they both looked. Ezra might not admit it to the others, but Vin knew the weekends away from the saloon were doing Ezra as much good as they did for Chaucer. They both needed the freedom and peace they couldn’t find in their usual haunts, and every weekend they stayed with Chris and Vin made a visible difference in how happy they were. Chaucer didn’t fidget and pace constantly in a stall anymore, and Ezra had begun to relax and let down his guard much more quickly when they were alone.

Chaucer wasn’t restrained by anything more than Ezra’s hand on his cheek, but he still stood quietly even though he watched Peso with his ears pricked and a bright sparkle in his eyes. Chris and Ezra both said Chaucer’s training was typical of a cavalry mount and Vin was willing to take their word for it. He’d spent all of his time in uniform either on the little blue roan mustang gelding he’d ridden before he signed up or hitching a ride with the artillery. When Smoke was shot out from under him towards the end of the war there hadn’t been any replacement mounts to be had, and truth be told Vin hadn’t wanted one. Smoke had been with him a lot of years, and losing the gelding had been like losing his brother. He hadn’t ever really tried to replace Smoke until he saw Peso running wild, and he’d never regretted it despite the high price he had paid for Peso’s loyalty.

Ezra stroked Chaucer’s elegant head and then stepped back and made a shooing gesture with one hand. “Go on.” Chaucer didn’t need to be told twice and bolted off down the meadow, nose and tail in the air.

Ezra chuckled and moved over to join Vin at the fence, leaning against the corral gate close enough to Vin that their shoulders touched. They watched with amusement as Peso moved to meet Chaucer, and then the two geldings reared and began to nip and paw at each other, not quite crossing the line to a serious fight but playing far rougher than anyone unfamiliar with them would think was safe. There was a lot of leaping and biting and the occasional kick, and they were making enough noise for a half a dozen horses, but they were just playing and seldom left a mark on each other.

“Go break it up,” Chris said behind them, and then Pony cantered slowly past the corral towards the leaping and squealing geldings.

Vin glanced at Chris, grinning, and then looked back at the horses. “Peso an’ Chaucer ain’t gonna hurt each other.”

“Much,” Chris agreed with a soft chuckle, stepping up behind Vin and slipping his arms around him to watch the horses over Vin’s shoulder. “It’d be nice if Pony would get ’em runnin’ instead, though. Let ’em blow off steam without riskin’ a kick that hits a little too hard.”

Ezra gave Chris and Vin an amused look even as he shifted away from them slightly. He was always moving out of Chris’ way even though Chris never asked or needed him to, and Vin wondered if they’d ever break him of it. Ezra knew that Vin and Chris both liked having him around, but there was a line Ezra didn’t cross no matter how often they encouraged him to. It was frustrating to Vin, and spurred him on to more obvious invitations as their relationship that wasn’t quite yet a relationship went on. He and Chris both wanted more with Ezra, and he knew Ezra returned their feelings, but he couldn’t quite figure out how to convince Ezra to give them a chance.

“They’re careful,” Ezra said after a moment. “Chaucer wouldn’t play if he thought Peso would hurt him.”

Vin smiled at Ezra, leaning back against Chris’ chest and then looking at their horses again. “Peso’s gotten over the whole not trustin’ Chaucer thing. He tolerates him near as well as he does Pony these days.”

Pony reached Peso and Chaucer then and shouldered between the rearing geldings without hesitation, pinning his ears threateningly as he bodily knocked them apart. Peso just threw his head to one side and trotted off a few strides to graze, not willing to argue when Pony looked annoyed. Chaucer snorted loud and stood with his tail lashing in annoyance for a minute or so before he heaved a sigh and dropped his muzzle to the grass as well. Pony’s ears pricked again then and he lowered his head to graze, satisfied that the meadow was quiet again. Pony didn't really approve of horses fighting and seldom let it go on for long near him, especially if the fighting was as loud as Peso and Chaucer so often were.

Ezra finally spoke again then, obviously pleased even as he shifted away a bit further. “That’s a rare compliment, coming from Peso.”

“That, and he can tell when his rider likes someone just as well as I can.” Chris moved one arm from around Vin as he leaned to reach over and tug Ezra back towards them, grinning. “Speakin’ of that, get back over here.”

Ezra blushed slightly but let Chris tug him over to them. “I was merely—“

“Bein’ silly,” Chris finished for him, slinging his arm loosely around Ezra’s shoulders to keep him from moving away again. “You’re welcome here, Ez, and you know how Vin likes to _cuddle_ with folks he cares about.”

Vin laughed, blushing slightly. “You’re the one always grabbin’ me!” He elbowed Chris in the ribs and then grinned at Ezra. “He’s right ‘bout one thing, though. We do like havin’ you with us.”

Ezra was blushing too as he said softly, “I know, but being welcome is not quite the same as it being my place to just ... join in.”

Vin grinned a bit wider and teased, “Why not? You got somebody waitin’ on you I don’t know about?”

Vin had taken it upon himself to discuss Josiah’s interest in Ezra with the preacher weeks ago, so he knew it wasn’t Josiah. Josiah thought Ezra was ‘pretty as a picture’ and would have enjoyed passing a little time in bed with such a good friend, but that was as deep as it went for him. Ezra seemed to feel pretty much the same, but with less physical attraction to go with the affection he felt for Josiah. Vin figured the preacher probably just wasn’t Ezra’s type, despite how much Ezra enjoyed flirting with him. Ezra hadn't ever had many friends he could trust so completely as he trusted Josiah, and Vin knew he treasured the fact that Josiah accepted him just as he was.

Chris smirked and looked expectantly at Ezra. “We’ve done everything but send you an invitation, Ezra.”

Ezra’s eyes widened and then he looked away down the meadow. He was quiet for a long moment, just watching the three geldings graze, and then finally said, “I am honored, but I fear it would be ill advised.”

Vin’s grin faded and he turned away from the corral to face Ezra, concerned. “Why, Ez? We do somethin’ to upset you?”

Ezra looked at Vin quickly. “No, of course not.” He hesitated, looking from Vin to Chris and then he sighed and looked away again. “I seem to have made no secret of my feelings for either of you.”

“Ezra, look at me,” Chris said quietly, and when Ezra did as he’d been told Chris went on. “Do you really think we would treat you as we do – that _I_ would – if we didn’t feel somethin’ pretty strong for you too?” He gave Ezra’s shoulders a squeeze. “I don’t make a habit of keepin’ a man who’s just a friend so close to me.”

Ezra stared up into Chris eyes, surprised, and Vin added softly, “We’d never ask you out here all the time just to let you watch somethin’ you can’t have.”

Ezra’s gaze shifted to Vin, his pale green eyes confused and a little wary, and that wariness made Vin want to reach out to him. “I … am not sure that I understand,” Ezra said softly.

“Maybe this will help.” Vin smiled softly at Ezra and moved closer to him, taking off Ezra’s hat and tossing it towards the house.

Ezra’s eyes widened but he was too surprised to move away as Vin leaned in and kissed him.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Chris stood very close to Vin and Ezra as he watched them kiss, a little bit surprised at how it made him feel. As much as he loved Vin he had half expected to feel at least a little jealousy when Vin finally coaxed Ezra into a kiss, but instead all he felt was desire and a surprising surge of protectiveness towards Ezra. He could tell Vin was being careful not to push Ezra, just as easily as he could tell how afraid Ezra was to let himself respond to Vin’s gentle coaxing. That fear to relax and enjoy himself was something Chris had seen in Ezra a lot more than he wanted to, and it bothered him more and more as time went on. He knew some of it was his fault for being so slow to really trust Ezra, but most of it was a legacy of the men Ezra had trusted in the past. Ezra expected his feelings to be used as a weapon against him for the simple reason that they always had been in the past, even by his own mother.

Chris leaned closer to them after a moment, murmuring near Ezra’s temple, “Ezra, relax. We want this as much as you do, I promise.”

Ezra made a soft little noise somewhere between a whimper and a groan, and then suddenly he was moving closer to Vin, deepening the kiss as he lifted his hands to touch Vin finally and pressed Vin back against the fence. Vin made a familiar low noise that made Chris smirk, and then Vin’s fingers were sliding into Ezra’s hair as he responded, settling back against the gate and shifting his stance to spread his legs far enough to let Ezra move in between them. Ezra took the invitation, moving to press against Vin from knee to chest without ending the kiss, one hand knocking Vin’s hat back to hang from the stampede string so he could bury his fingers in Vin’s hair and tilt Vin’s head slightly to get a better angle.

Chris watched them for a few minutes before he stepped in behind Ezra, his hands settling lightly on Ezra’s waist as he leaned in to kiss below Ezra’s ear and then purred, “I’m thinkin’ this should be moved indoors.”

Ezra shuddered and then suddenly he was squirming away, putting some space between himself and Vin and Chris, his green eyes wide and full of panic. “No.” He shook his head and turned away, rubbing one hand over his face. “No, this is a very bad idea.”

Chris sighed and reminded himself that Ezra had been alone and celibate even longer than they had known him, and that Ezra had made a bad choice of who to trust more than once. He wouldn’t talk about it unless he was drunk – and getting Ezra drunk was no small feat! – but Ezra had let slip enough that Chris was pretty sure he had been hurt badly by more than one man. Chris wasn’t clear on whether the hurt had been physical or not, but either way he knew Ezra carried scars from it. It only made sense that Ezra would be gun-shy after so long, and he felt like he should have realized that going straight from a first kiss to being put between two men would be too much.

“Easy Ezra,” Chris said gently, “I’m not tryin’ to push you into doin’ anything you don’t want to do.”

Vin reached out to put one hand on Chris’ chest and murmured, “That’s not it, Chris.” Chris looked at Vin, surprised, and Vin gave him a slight smile, patting his chest. He clearly thought he could handle it so Chris nodded and stepped back slightly, trusting Vin’s instincts not to lead them wrong. Vin smiled wider and then turned and moved towards Ezra, careful not to crowd him as he said softly, “Ezra’s worried this is just about havin’ some fun with a friend an’ gettin’ laid.” Ezra looked at Vin sharply and Vin gave him a warm smile. “It’s not, Ez. We wouldn’t use you like that.”

Ezra swallowed hard and then asked very softly, “What are you trying to say, Vin?”

Chris finally understood. “He’s sayin’ we care about you,” he said quietly, and when Ezra’s gaze shifted to him Chris smiled. “We’re both gettin’ laid plenty, but we still want to get closer to you.”

Ezra stared into Chris’ eyes for a moment and then blinked. “Am I to understand you’re saying you want … more than intercourse from me?”

Vin snorted, amused. “Ezra, can’t you ever just come right out an’ say what you’re thinkin’ without hidin’ behind all the five-dollar words? Even with us?”

Ezra looked at Vin a moment and then visibly steeled himself. “Alright.” He looked from Vin to Chris and back again and then repeated quietly to himself, “Say what I’m thinking.” He took another deep breath and then said very simply, “I am not interested in a one-time ... tryst with either of you. I am not sure I could stand it.” He looked away again, adding more quietly, “I would rather not know what I’m missing any better than I do.”

Vin reached for Ezra, cupping his chin and turning Ezra’s head to look at him. “Don’t you think I know that, Ez? That we _both_ know that?” He smiled gently at Ezra and let his hand fall as he added, “I may not have much book learnin’, but I’m not blind or stupid.”

“And I don’t recall making an offer with limits on it, myself,” Chris added, resisting the urge to reach out to Ezra himself. He didn’t think it was a coincidence that Ezra had panicked only after he touched him. Ezra had been surprised but he had shown no uncertainty about letting Vin get close again even after he spooked, and the more Chris thought about it the more he realized that Ezra was seldom calm about his touch. Vin had been trying to tell him for a couple of months that Ezra was in love with him, even though he had thought Ezra’s affections were more towards Vin. Ezra’s panicked reaction to Chris moving in close to him and kissing his neck seemed to lend credence to Vin’s theory. Ezra would often resist most against the things he desperately wanted because they were often the things he most feared as well.

Ezra looked at Chris quickly, pale green eyes wide again. “What do you mean, Chris?”

“I mean the same thing we’ve been sayin’ for ten minutes, Ezra, the same thing we’ve been hoping you’d notice for a long while now. We both want you with us, but it’s not about gettin’ laid.” Chris smirked slightly and teased, “Not that we wouldn’t enjoy havin’ you in our bed, but that’s just icin’ on the cake.”

Vin chuckled, amused. “It’s got to be your choice though. We’ve been droppin’ hints and you ignore them, so I figured we’d have to get a lot more obvious to get the point across. I reckon we went a little too fast for you.”

Ezra stared at Vin a moment and then murmured, “I’m sorry, but I _will_ need to think about this. It’s ... a rather large change for us all.”

Chris moved closer to Ezra. “You can take whatever time you need, but this is so you’ll know what’s waitin’ for you.” He reached out and cupped one hand around the nape of Ezra’s neck, watching Ezra’s eyes go wide as he leaned in, and then Ezra’s eyes closed just before their lips touched.

Chris kept the kiss gentle, nothing more than a taste, but even so Ezra swayed closer after only a moment with a soft little broken sound.

  



	2. Chapter 2

 

Ezra was barely aware of the noise he made when he gave in to Chris’ gentle persuasion and began to respond to the kiss, too lost in what was happening to care how undignified he might be acting. He felt as if every nerve in his body was suddenly alive after being numb for longer than he cared to recall, making his skin tingle and his breath hitch as he swayed closer.

His intention not to get between Chris and Vin had withstood three months of spending most meals with them, weekends alone with them, even days of watching Chris and Vin working shirtless on their barn and cabin. It was torture to have them so close and yet not touch, but it was a torture he couldn’t help but enjoy. It had been a very long time since he was around anyone he could watch with so much appreciation without having to hide it, and he enjoyed the way Chris and Vin both reacted to his admiring attention. Chris was often smug about it, preening and strutting around like a rooster, but Vin’s shy surprise and pleasure could be quite simply captivating.

Keeping the flirting to words hadn’t been easy, especially with Vin. Vin often leaned against Ezra or touched him when he had reason to be nearby, just as Vin did when he was close to Chris, but Ezra had made sure not to go past flirting and a little non-sexual touching even with Vin. Vin was touch-starved, something Ezra felt uniquely qualified to diagnose, and he sympathized too much to ignore Vin’s need completely. There were few people Vin trusted enough to let them see how badly he wanted to be touched, and Ezra simply could not refuse it of him. Truth be told, he didn’t want to. He felt that need almost as strongly as Vin did, and had been able to safely indulge it all too rarely.

Ezra’s resolve had withstood quite a lot, even watching them kiss just a few feet away, but he had no prayer of resisting their newest tactic.

Kissing Vin had easily been enough to make Ezra forget himself for a few minutes, but being kissed by Chris stripped away all of his carefully built walls and left him unable to even remember for an endless moment that it was a bad idea. All he could think of was that it was Chris that was kissing him like he really mattered, soft and gentle and without making even the slightest demand of him. Within a few moments it became too much to bear and he panicked at his own emotions, but when he tried to pull away Chris’ hand on the back of his neck effortlessly kept him still.

Chris finally ended the kiss after what seemed like an eternity, and Ezra just stood there breathing hard with his eyes closed as he tried to gather his scattered wits. He knew that if he opened his eyes Chris would be able to see every nuance of his feelings in them, and the thought terrified him. He couldn’t hide, couldn’t begin to gather his shattered defenses, and for a fleeting moment he gave serious thought to whistling for Chaucer and running right then, without even a saddle or bridle.

“I think you broke him, cowboy,” Vin teased softly, sounding so close Ezra thought he could feel Vin’s breath on his cheek, even though it was just the breeze.

Ezra felt his face heating up as he opened his eyes quickly, but he was careful not to look at Chris or Vin’s faces. He flushed even more as he realized his hands were fisted in Chris’ shirt, holding on tightly while he leaned against Chris’ chest. He let go quickly and took a step back, mumbling, “I am sorry, I didn’t mean—“

Chris put a fingertip against Ezra’s lips to quiet him, and Ezra looked up at Chris reflexively to see Chris was smiling as he let his hand fall to Ezra’s shoulder. “I like you touchin’ me.” 

“ _We_ like you touchin’ us,” Vin corrected. He was standing close against Chris’ shoulder and he gave Ezra a sweet, gentle smile. “We wouldn’t have started anything if we didn’t agree on this, Ez.”

Ezra looked into Vin’s blue eyes a moment, finding nothing but warmth and sincere affection in them, and then turned his attention back to Chris. Chris’ dark grey-green eyes were harder to read in the moonlight, but after a moment Chris’ smile widened and something in those unreadable eyes softened and grew warm. Ezra found himself wanting to kiss him again and swayed a bit closer before he realized what he was doing, and then Chris’ eyes changed again, the color shifting more towards green.

Chris lifted his hand to Erza’s jaw, his thumb stroking along Ezra's cheekbone as he murmured, “I reckon you just need to stop worrying about what we want, Ezra, and tell us what _you_ want. I see it in your eyes. Just let it out.”

Ezra stared into Chris’ eyes a moment longer and then admitted in no more than a whisper, “I want you both, but I’m afraid I couldn’t take it if you had regrets in the morning. You mean entirely too much to me.”

Chris smiled gently as his thumb ghosted along Ezra’s cheekbone again. “That’s not going to happen. We’ve had plenty of time to talk it over, an’ no matter what happens tonight we won't wake up tomorrow feelin’ different.”

Ezra realized he was leaning into Chris’ touch and blushed, feeling his face heating up again as he made himself pull away to look at Vin. “Vin?”

Vin smiled, stepping closer to Ezra. “Relax, Ez. You’re always gonna be somebody we care a hell of a lot about, no matter what. Do what’ll make you happy, an' that'll make us happy.” He leaned in and kissed Ezra, a soft press of lips that asked nothing of him but offered so much it made Ezra’s heart ache, and then he gave Ezra that sweet little smile again and moved away. “I’m going to start carryin’ supplies in or we’ll never eat.” He bumped Chris’ elbow as he moved past him towards the cabin. “Come on, cowboy, you can make yourself useful, too. Give Ez time to think a bit.”

Chris chuckled and rolled his eyes, and his tone of voice was very definitely mocking as he muttered, “Yes dear.” He gave Ezra a warm, amused smile and then followed Vin, leaving Ezra alone by the corral.

Ezra watched them cross the yard to where Vin had parked the wagon by the porch, then turned away again and looked out over the meadow. It had gotten dark enough that he could barely make out the horses in the wan light of the moon, but when he did he smiled softly.

Chaucer was grazing with Pony and Peso, all three of them calm and relaxed even though just a few short months before Peso would have been attacking Chaucer if he got within thirty feet. Peso had been wary of another horse in his territory then, especially a gelding as spirited and competitive as Chaucer was, and he had fought hard against it for a long while. Chaucer was prone to throwing up his head and taking off for no better reason than that he had gotten bored with grazing, and he enjoyed a good fight much more than Pony did. His sudden bursts of energy startled Peso at first, and it took him a long while to get used to them enough he didn’t see an attack in Chaucer’s every move. Peso had been very slow to trust even Chaucer’s friendliest overtures, but he did finally and now the two grazed side-by-side with Pony.

Ezra sympathized with Peso and his reluctance to accept Chaucer’s early advances. He felt like he had been fighting just as hard for as little reason, trying to ignore the blatant invitation he so often saw in Vin’s eyes and the warm affection that was usually in Chris’ eyes now when they were in reasonable privacy. He couldn’t really understand why they might want him with them, and that made it hard for him to trust all the little signs that they really did. He wasn’t anything special, not compared to Vin’s lithe grace and unashamed sensuality or Chris’ physical power and confidence in almost any situation. He couldn’t envision either of them _needing_ him. They completed each other like no two other people Ezra had ever known, and he just couldn’t imagine a place for himself in that.

Of course, he couldn’t imagine them lying to him, either.

Ezra still had no idea why they might want his company, but he had to accept that they did. They had come right out and said they had feelings for him and wanted him, so it had to be true. That raised a whole new set of questions, chief among them being what Ezra wanted to do with the information. Did he trust them to be sure, trust that he could follow his heart and they wouldn’t lead him into something he’d regret, or did he saddle up and ride back to town as his fears so loudly urged him to do, removing himself from temptation? Or did he take the third option, one he had seldom even considered in the last two years, and leave the territory altogether?

The first option scared him, but he liked the second and third options even less. Trusting his heart into another’s keeping was something he had promised himself he would never do again. He had completely given his heart and soul only once before and it had left him a broken man, running headlong into a war and hoping for a bullet just so the pain would stop. Relationships he had risked since then had mattered much less to him emotionally but had nevertheless left scars of their own to remember them by. He had always had deplorable luck with men, and had only twice met a woman that could rivet his attention the way a certain kind of man could with just a glance.

Chris Larabee just happened to be the kind of man Ezra had the most trouble resisting. The tall silent type was such a cliché, but he had fallen into the bed of more than one such man who showed a little interest in him. Chris had shown very much more than a little interest, and Ezra found it nearly impossible to resist the temptation to follow wherever Chris wanted to lead him. The way his resistance had melted at Chris’ eyes going all soft and warm while looking at him, the way his skin had tingled and his ability to think or even breathe escaped him when Chris kissed him, had brought home to Ezra just how much it would hurt to ride away, before _or_ after he gave that last fraction of himself that Chris didn’t already own.

It was supremely ironic to him that the part of himself he had always before given most freely was the only thing he had so far denied to Chris or Vin. He had fallen into bed with men he had known for only a few hours more times than he cared to recall, but he still hesitated despite the fact he knew he was safer with Chris and Vin than he had been with anyone else he had ever known. He had given Chris his loyalty and his friendship years ago, and would willingly give his life for him, but he hadn’t realized until about six months ago that Chris also owned a large portion of his heart.

It didn’t help at all that every scrap of his heart that didn’t belong to Chris seemed to be firmly attached to a scruffy tracker with a sweet smile that could talk Ezra into just about anything.

Vin was nothing like the other men Ezra had been attracted to over the years, too wild and free-spirited to fit in anywhere but on the edge of the frontier where a white man who acted more like a Comanche was no more unusual than a preacher who wore a gun. Vin was still unique even in such wild surroundings, a man of contradictions who was capable of many things that would terrify the genteel society Ezra had grown up in and yet as softhearted as a little girl when it suited him to be. He could be gentle as a lamb but was still merciless with those he felt deserved it, fearless and yet so very hesitant to share himself with anyone he didn’t trust implicitly. Ezra had never known another man so in tune with his own feelings and needs, or one so unashamedly honest with those he loved even when that honesty showed him in a less than flattering light.

Which, of course, brought Ezra right back to where he began.

If Vin said that Ezra was welcome and wanted in their home, then that was the truth. Vin would never lie to him. That Chris had repeated it just set the fact in stone. They would never lie about the fact they desired him and wanted him to be with them, but he had learned young that nothing he wanted would come easily or last long. He knew that Chris and Vin could make him happier than he had ever been if he trusted them enough to let them, but still he feared that something would go wrong, something none of them could foresee that he simply wouldn’t be able to withstand.

Now he needed only to decide if he was willing to risk his worst nightmare to get a chance at a lifetime with the two men he cared about most in the world.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Vin carried the last box into the cabin and put it on the table, then moved the crates Chris had already emptied to stack them against the wall nearby. He looked at Chris then, who was putting their supplies on the rough wood shelves that worked as a pantry until they got around to putting in something more permanent. “Think I should go check on him?”

Chris paused with a jar of blackberry preserves in one hand, looking at Vin a moment before he nodded. “Might be best.” He smiled crookedly. “We gave him a lot to think on.”

Vin chuckled softly. “We sure did.” He moved over to Chris and looked up at him expectantly, and he grinned when Chris just smiled and leaned to kiss him. Chris didn’t linger long and then Vin was moving towards the door, not bothering to get his hat and coat. “Hopefully we’ll both be back before long.”

“Don’t let him ride out,” Chris said quietly, going back to work. “Not alone.”

“I won’t.” Vin stepped out of the cabin, closing the door behind him and then walking quietly across the porch and down the stairs to cross the yard.

Ezra still stood by the corral, and Vin smiled bemusedly when he saw Ezra’s hat was lying forgotten on the ground a dozen feet behind him. He bent to scoop up the hat on his way by it, and had almost reached Ezra’s side when Ezra suddenly turned towards him.

One look at Ezra’s face and Vin’s smile disappeared, replaced by concern. Ezra was worried and confused and looked more than a little scared, and Vin hated to think that he and Chris had put that tangle of emotions in Ezra’s expressive eyes. “Ez, what is it?” He slowed as he moved closer, watching for some hint Ezra wanted him to stop, and he was surprised by the way Ezra moved to meet him.

“Distract me,” Ezra murmured softly, his hands sliding up around Vin’s neck as he hid his face against Vin’s throat and hair. “Make me stop thinking about the many myriad ways this could go appallingly wrong and leave me wishing for an end to my miserable life.”

Vin was surprised by Ezra’s actions but he didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around him, one hand still holding Ezra’s hat as he held him close and whispered, “Shh, it won’t happen like that.”

Just holding him wasn’t something Ezra had allowed as yet, and Vin was a bit surprised to realize that holding Ezra was nothing like it was with Chris. Chris always inspired feelings of safety and coming home when Vin was in his arms, but holding Ezra sparked a need to take care of him Vin had only felt once before. The intensity of the feelings Ezra inspired in him made how he’d felt about Charlotte pale by comparison, though. He had been drawn to her, yes, but it was more because it was killing him to be alone while watching Chris grow closer to Mary than it was because he truly wanted Charlotte in particular. He had realized eventually that he didn’t, not really, but he _had_ desperately wanted what she was offering to him: someone who needed him just as he was, rough edges and all.

“How can you know that?” Ezra murmured, his voice more shaky than Vin had ever heard it. “How can you both be so damned sure that anything could possibly work out between the three of us?”

“Because we won’t let it do anything else,” Vin said gently, running his hand soothingly over Ezra’s back. “We’ll take care of you, Ez. We’re not gonna let anyone hurt you, not even us.” He smiled suddenly and teased, “An’ that makes you pretty damned safe, if you ask me. Can you really see anyone gettin’ past Chris _and_ me?”

Ezra laughed slightly, sounding almost like a sob, then he lifted his head to look at Vin, finally smiling. “No, I must confess that seems very unlikely.”

Vin moved his free hand to slide his fingers through Ezra’s hair, not missing the way Ezra’s eyes glistened or the way Ezra leaned into his touch. “See there? Stop worryin’ yourself sick. We want you happy more than anything, whatever it takes to do that. If you need us to back off, we will. We don’t wanna do anything to hurt you, Ez.”

“And if I’m afraid of what I want?” Ezra asked softly, searching Vin’s eyes for something.

Vin smiled. “Then do what you feel safe with an’ let the rest come natural or not on its own time. Thinkin’ yourself into a state never did nobody any good.”

Ezra chuckled softly, his green eyes still shining a bit brighter than normal. “You are wise beyond your years, Vin.”

“For the most part they been busy years,” Vin said, giving him an impish grin.

Ezra laughed and kissed him, and Vin responded without hesitation even though he was careful not to push for anything more than what Ezra was offering. The kiss stayed gentle and sweet, speaking more of the way they felt about each other than of any physical need, and when Ezra finally pulled away Vin was glad to see him smiling.

“We should go in,” Ezra said with amusement, “before Chris tries to cook.”

Vin released Ezra, lifting the hat he was still holding to put it on Ezra’s head at a jaunty angle. “Might be a good idea.”

Ezra pulled away and settled the hat more firmly, smiling as he took Vin’s hand and pulled him towards the cabin. “It would be a shame to waste such good beef. I shall have to remember to let farmers bet their stock more often.”

Vin laughed and followed willingly, relieved and hoping that Ezra could get past whatever it was that still held him back. He was sure that Ezra wanted to stay, wanted to give whatever had developed between the three of them a chance, but he was also very sure that the idea terrified Ezra right down to his bones. Giving him time to feel safe was little enough they could do.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Chris began peeling the onion he’d left out to go with their steaks, humming to himself because the cabin seemed so quiet when he was alone. He used to welcome the peace and quiet, but he had grown accustomed to being able to hear Vin breathe or move around nearby and now silence seemed wrong, even oppressive. He had never thought he’d turn into one of those people who didn’t like to be alone, but the more time he and Vin spent together, the less he liked their rare times apart. He just didn’t feel like himself anymore when Vin wasn’t with him. Even Buck had seen it and commented on it, but at least he accepted Chris and Vin’s relationship now, despite his lingering worries about how dangerous it was.

Of course, Buck didn’t bother to hide how he felt about the fact another person had begun to feel like a necessary part of Chris’ daily life over the last few months as well. Chris had found himself missing Ezra more and more when he wasn’t with them, and he knew without needing to ask that Vin felt the same way. Buck didn’t like it even a little and made sure Chris knew it whenever he made the mistake of giving him an excuse, but Chris couldn’t make himself care.

Vin had grown close to Ezra long before Chris did, and for more than a year he had quietly made a point of finding first Chris and then Ezra when he rode into town after being away for some reason. He hadn’t asked for Chris to see if his friendship with Ezra could become more, and Chris knew that Vin never would have pushed him in that direction. Vin definitely welcomed having the two most important people in his life closer to each other, but he would never ask for more than either of them freely offered to him for the simple reason Vin already had more than he’d ever expected he would. Vin just did what he could to help them understand each other on the rare occasion when it was needed, ready and willing to accept whatever made them both happy.

Because of Vin’s close friendship with Ezra, Chris had spent more time with Ezra in the three months since Vin moved into his bed than he had in the year before that. He had always liked Ezra, despite not being able to really trust him for almost two years after they met, but in the last few months he had finally gotten to see the real man Ezra kept so carefully hidden. The cynical gambler Chris had thought he knew so well was a carefully constructed mask to hide a vulnerable, sensitive man with a strong sense of honor he often fought against simply because people expected it of him.

It hadn’t taken Chris long after he was allowed to see the real Ezra to notice that Ezra cared for Vin at least as much as Vin cared for Ezra. Vin enjoyed Ezra’s company too much for Chris to do anything but encourage them to spend time together, which had resulted in Chris spending a lot of time with Ezra at his most relaxed. As time passed and they all grew closer, Chris’ feelings had slowly changed more than he would have thought possible. Chris hadn’t expected to feel so deeply for Ezra, but he could no longer imagine not having the smooth-talking gambler in his life, preferably right up close where he could keep an eye on him.

The cabin door opened and Chris looked up, smiling when he saw that Ezra was a lot more relaxed than he had been. His smile widened into a grin when he realized that Ezra was leading Vin by the hand. Ezra seldom let himself show any need for them, but even Chris recognized the simple gesture of holding Vin’s hand as a silent admission that Ezra needed the reassurance of Vin’s touch. “Bout time, you two. I was about to start cookin’.”

“Don’t you dare,” Ezra said firmly, letting go of Vin. He waited a moment for Vin to close the door and then moved to hang his jacket and hat on the empty peg behind the door. There were two other pegs in the wall there that already held Chris and Vin’s things, except for Vin’s gun. He seldom took it off until he was ready to head to bed, his ingrained wariness too hard-won for him to forget it often even at home. “ _I_ will cook, you can pull up a chair and make yourself useful slicing the potatoes.”

Vin snickered and stepped in close to Ezra, reaching around him to unfasten Ezra’s shoulder holster from his gun belt as he looked over at Chris. “Yeah, we want to actually _eat_ dinner, not bury it.”

Ezra laughed, swatting Vin’s hands away. “I can do that myself! Go get him away from the stove.”

Vin snickered and kissed Ezra’s cheek, and then he headed towards Chris while Ezra removed his guns, which always took a minute or two. “You heard him, cowboy. Back away from the food.”

Chris snorted and folded his arms across his chest, trying not to laugh. “Steak’s easy.”

Vin grinned and moved in close to Chris, sliding his arms around Chris’ waist and looking up at him. “Maybe so, but we’re not havin’ just steak. There’s the onions and potatoes to think of, too.”

Chris let out a soft laugh and moved to settle his arms around Vin, letting himself be distracted. “I can cook all three and you know it as well as I do.”

Vin snickered. “And who burned our last two potatoes the other mornin’?”

“That don’t count!” Chris protested, laughing. “You walked in an’ jerked your pants down while I was cookin’, an’ then you leaned over the end of the table just _darin_ ’ me to--“

“You still burned the potatoes,” Vin interrupted, smirking. “The why of it don’t matter.”

“It damned sure does,” Chris said, grinning. “’Specially when it was all your fault.”

Ezra laughed, walking towards them and looking amused. “Both of you get out of my way and let me cook. I’m hungry!”

Chris smirked at Ezra, holding on when Vin would have moved away like Ezra told him to. “And if I don’t wanna go?”

“Then I’ll persuade Vin to go in your bedroom without you,” Ezra replied quickly, smirking as he stopped just a foot or so away from them. “By the time he throws his buckskins out here, you’d be _happy_ to get away from the stove.”

Vin poked Chris in the ribs, grinning. “Let me go, we’ve got potatoes to slice, and that onion, too.”

Chris snorted slightly but let Vin go, leaning closer to Ezra as he smirked and murmured, “It’d likely be more fun if _you_ were the one throwin’ his britches.” He moved away without waiting for Ezra to reply, but he didn’t miss the thoughtful gleam in Ezra’s eyes as Ezra turned his head to smirk at Vin.

Vin’s eyes widened slightly and he laughed. “I thought you wanted to wait on that, Ez.”

Ezra’s smirk didn’t slip in the slightest. “I’m finding my fears seem less and less important the more I contemplate the possibilities. I trust you both to have my best interests in mind as well as your own.”

Chris grinned at Ezra, pleased he felt safe enough to admit he had been afraid. Fear was one of the hardest emotions for Ezra to handle, probably because there was so little that truly scared him. “Hell, you don’t have to be scared of us. We won’t bite unless you want us to.”

Ezra’s eyes widened and then he abruptly turned towards the shelf where they kept the two iron skillets they cooked with, muttering just loud enough for Chris and Vin to hear, “That should not sound _nearly_ so enjoyable as it does.”

Vin chuckled and sat down at the table, pulling a couple of potatoes towards him as he drew his knife. “Peel the potatoes or not?”

Chris chuckled, moving around to sit in one of the other chairs and pick up the onion and the small thin-bladed knife he had been using. “Don’t bother. Always heard the skins are good for you.”

Vin made a face and began slicing one of the potatoes into thin little slabs that would cook quickly, careful because his knife slid right through the tough tuber and a slip could cut off the end of a finger. “Likely true, too. Most things that taste that much like dirt are.”

Ezra laughed softly, shaking his head as he moved to the table to put one of the skillets down for them to put the potatoes and onion in. He began to unwrap the paper that was on the steaks next, giving Vin an amused smile as he said, “The skins are good for you, but if they taste like dirt you likely haven’t _washed_ them well enough.”

Vin stopped slicing and looked at Chris. “Did you wash the potatoes?”

Chris snickered and nodded, slicing the onion deftly even though he only glanced at it occasionally. He hadn’t ever helped out much in the kitchen when he wasn’t the one doing the cooking, but when he did it had always been by slicing vegetables or something similar. He had begun whittling as a boy, after all, and vegetables were much easier to carve than scraps of wood. “I did. Figured it’d save time to do that first.”

“Your knife, on the other hand,” Ezra said dryly as he looked at Vin, “has likely not been washed in weeks.”

Vin blinked and then laughed, looking at both sides of his knife. “It’s clean!” He looked up at Ezra, grinning. “Why wash somethin’ that doesn’t need it? Ever’ one knows water’s not good for a blade.”

Ezra snorted and plucked the knife out of Vin’s hand. “Anything that touches food I’m going to eat needs to be washed.” He turned away, walking over to the sink with Vin’s knife. “Especially if it happens to be a knife you killed a man with a few days ago.”

“He didn’t have a gun so shootin’ him just didn’t seem fair, even if he was goin’ after you with a busted bottle,” Vin said, watching Ezra bemusedly. “I wiped it good after.” He grinned, adding, “And I used it to cut bacon for breakfast twice since then, not to mention butchering out them steaks we’re fixin’ to eat.”

Chris snorted, amused despite how badly that incident with the bottle had scared he and Vin both. They had walked into the nearly empty saloon Wednesday evening before they rode out to their place, intending to have dinner with Ezra and spend an hour or two socializing. They got there just in time to see a man shove Ezra back against the bar with a broken bottle to Ezra’s bloodied throat while Ezra tried to talk his attacker out of killing him. Vin was first through the door and had immediately tackled the idiot with the bottle, knocking him away from Ezra before Chris had time to do anything more than draw his gun.

Vin was in Chris’ line of fire when the guy jumped up off the floor with the bottle still in his hand, and Vin had buried his knife to the hilt in the idiot’s belly without any hesitation. Chris had leaned outside then to yell for JD to go get Nathan, and the scene that had greeted JD and Nathan when they came running had been pretty gruesome. Vin’s blade had efficiently gutted the man he killed, leaving Vin very bloody with quite a mess on the floor as well, and even their friends had been unnerved by how unfazed Vin was as soon as he knew Ezra wasn’t badly hurt.

Rumors had quickly circulated that made the scene sound even worse than it had been, and the less trustworthy element in town had been giving Vin a wide berth ever since, but unfortunately that wasn’t true for Ezra. Most of the unsavory types in the area feared the Seven, especially Vin and Chris because of their tendency to kill those who gave them an excuse to, but Ezra just didn’t seem to instill a similar fear, despite how many men he’d killed. It seemed like someone always tried Ezra’s mettle when word circulated that he was alone, and that little tidbit of information seemed like it always got around faster than any other rumor.

It had finally reached the point Vin was afraid to leave Ezra alone in the saloon anymore, though he didn’t want to admit it, so Chris had made a point of talking to Inez, Josiah, Buck, and even JD about it to ease Vin’s worries. Their friends had agreed to help make sure Ezra wasn’t left without backup again, but Vin still quietly settled in the saloon when he had the chance, either sitting in on Ezra’s poker games or just leaning against the bar as a very potent deterrent. Ezra’s still-healing cut under his chin bore mute testimony to how near his brush with death had been, and a glimpse of that cut was all it took to put Vin in the mood to scare a few people.

Ezra primed the pitcher pump and then cranked the handle a few times in quick succession before he rinsed Vin’s knife under the running water, muttering to himself just loud enough they could hear him, “It’s a wonder they haven’t poisoned themselves.”

“Hey!” Chris protested with a laugh. “I wash my knife! And I don’t kill people with the one I use on food, either.”

Ezra turned back towards the table, shaking his head and chuckling as he flicked Vin’s knife, scattering the few water droplets that clung to the razor-sharp blade. “Thank God for small favors.”

Vin threw a slice of potato at Ezra, laughing. “I’ve been usin’ that knife for everything I needed to do for years and it ain’t killed me yet.”

“Pure blind luck, I am sure,” Ezra teased as he offered the knife to Vin, who accepted it immediately. He picked up the steaks, moving over to the stove with them as he added, “It’s too big to be slicing vegetables with anyway. We need a few small kitchen knives.” Ezra glanced at the rough wooden sink and tiny makeshift counter, then at the rather ugly wood shelves that served as a pantry. “Not to mention a kitchen to use them in,” he added dryly.

Vin chuckled softly and went back to work on the potatoes, but he was grinning. It took Chris a moment to realize he was, too. Ezra had included himself with them for the first time he could think of, and didn’t even seem to have noticed it. That boded well for how everything would turn out.

It might take time for Ezra to really believe he was safe with them, but Chris figured it would be worth waiting for.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Ezra lingered over a mug of spiked coffee that was more bourbon than anything else, watching in silence while Chris and Vin washed the dishes, talking quietly about their plans for the next day.

There was plenty of work to do on the cabin yet, and the wagon full of wood parked outside gave them what they needed to do it with. The cabin’s third room was just barely habitable by Ezra’s standards, and the fourth room still needed the rear door and windows to be installed and the ceiling to be finished. They had no need of an attic, but Chris and Vin thought that a breezeway above the rooms couldn’t be a bad thing in the heat of summer. They planned to have shutters at either end of the back half of the cabin that could be opened or closed from the outside, but until they got around to them the openings were just covered with scrap boards to keep out the rain.

Ezra might have preferred to arrange their priorities differently – somewhere to sit besides the two beds or the four mismatched wooden chairs at the kitchen table would have been a nice place to start – but further improvements to the cabin’s furnishings were likely not to happen until the fences were finished. Chris and Vin had plans to fence in the entire meadow within sight of the house, around fifteen acres, and they had been stockpiling cedar posts and rails as they could get them. They were paying on average a nickel per stout post, half that or less for rails, and had left word at the Feed & Seed that they would buy all that the locals could deliver. There were several piles behind the barn already, and a few of the more recently arrived local landowners had agreed to deliver more as they cleared their land for crops.

Ezra had purchased a few wagonloads of the rough timbers himself, though he pretended to know nothing of the extra wood when Chris noticed and asked him about it. He had also quietly paid for lumber for the cabin whenever he did especially well at the tables, and even though he was sure Chris at least knew about it, he hadn’t argued over it. Ezra felt it was only fair to chip in a bit, since he intended to stay with them as often as appearances would allow. He knew that their plans for the cabin had changed to suit him once they realized Ezra enjoyed spending a day or two with them when he could. The second bedroom had gotten a rather large feather bed instead of rope-slung cotton-tick bunks, and there was a large wardrobe that Ezra was sure neither Chris nor Vin would have had built for themselves.

Ezra hadn’t been in their bedroom, of course, so he couldn’t be _completely_ sure of that, but he really didn’t doubt it. Vin seldom bothered to do anything more with the clean clothes he brought in off the line out back than wad them up into a basket, and Ezra hadn’t seen any evidence at all that either of them folded or hung up the clothes later. Vin’s shirts were always wrinkled, and Chris’ were usually just as bad unless he had recently paid to have his laundry done in town. Neither of them was very concerned with their appearance, though Chris did put out a lot more effort than Vin did. To Vin, clothes seemed to just be something to keep him from having to go out in public naked.

Chris turned away from the rough wooden sink with the last of the dishes, drying the largest iron skillet as he gave Ezra an amused look. “Enjoying your drink?”

“The view _is_ rather better than I would find in town,” Ezra said with a smile, then sipped at his coffee-flavored bourbon again.

Chris smirked and looked at Vin, who was stacking the plates in the pantry. “Damned right about that.”

Vin glanced at Ezra and then at Chris, smiling and looking pleased, but he didn’t say anything. He seldom did when one of them paid him a compliment, as much because Chris didn’t like him denying his good looks as because he often didn’t know what else to say. Vin had spent so long hiding his desires and needs that he seemed to have forgotten what it was like to be wanted, and it was one of the very few things he was actually shy about. A compliment on his riding or on his ability with a rifle or knife would get a cocky grin and a quick comeback much of the time, but an admiring remark on his lithe body or those beautiful blue eyes of his would often make him blush and leave him speechless.

“Personally,” Ezra teased, “I was referring to you, Mr. Larabee, though your … partner _is_ rather pretty in a wild sort of way.”

Vin laughed and turned to walk over to the table. “I’m goin’ with Ez on this one.” He paused by the table to lean down and kiss Ezra, and then he flopped into his chair to smirk at Chris. “Got to say, though, you’re even nicer to look at naked.” He grinned wickedly. “And wet.”

Chris snorted, grinning. “Too bad for you it ain’t rainin’.”

“Swimmin’ hole out back,” Vin said, still grinning wickedly. “And as I recall, you could use a bath.”

Chris laughed. “I still smell better’n you do. As usual.”

Vin smirked at Ezra. “You’ve smelled us both. Who needs a bath worse?”

Ezra pretended to think about it, then grinned impishly. “As someone who has been rather up close and personal with each of you this evening, I rather think you _both_ need a bath.”

Vin smirked and reached over to poke Ezra’s side gently. “You plannin’ to watch?”

Ezra wanted badly to do just that, but he suddenly realized he wanted to join them even more. He knew they would welcome him, and that he would enjoy himself more than he had in ... well, longer than he wanted to admit, even to himself. The only question was whether he could trust that things wouldn’t change in the morning. He thought he could, that it just might be safe to let Vin and Chris to take care of him in this. He hoped that putting himself at their mercy was as good an idea as it seemed to him at the moment. He didn’t have the willpower to run any farther. He had always been rather poor at making himself do something he didn’t want to do, even if he thought he should.

Ezra was still considering how to answer when Chris moved over to stand by the table across from Ezra and Vin. “Moon’s up good by now,” Chris said, smirking, and Ezra noticed that Chris’ sparkling eyes had shifted more towards a dark dusky green again. “Ought to be plenty of light to see by.”

Ezra appreciated the fact Chris and Vin gave him time to think about it as he just looked at Chris a few moments, wondering if the change in the color of Chris’ eyes was coincidence caused by the light or something more. Finally he made a decision and turned his attention to Vin, giving him a slow smile that Vin returned immediately.

It surprised Ezra to realize how freeing it was to finally make the choice to give Chris and Vin all he had if they wanted it. It was as if all his worries about it faded to nothing, leaving only the affection and undeniable desire he felt for the two men in front of him. Vin had promised that he wouldn’t regret this, and Chris had promised, and Ezra knew they were men of their word. He would have to trust in them when he couldn’t have faith in himself.

“Perhaps I need a bath myself,” Ezra said finally, letting everything he felt show in his eyes. “It _was_ a dusty ride out from town.”

 

~*~*~*~

 

Vin’s eyes widened slightly when Ezra said he needed a bath too, but the look in Ezra’s eyes drew a warm answering smile despite his surprise. “You’re welcome anytime, Ez. Water’s cold, but we’ve cleaned out a nice little swimmin’ hole.”

Chris smirked and moved towards the door, unbuttoning his shirt as he went. “I think we’d better get our asses out there before he has a chance to panic and change his mind.”

Vin laughed, glancing at Chris and then back at Ezra. “You planning to panic, Ez?”

Ezra stood, shrugging out of his vest to drop it on the table. “I, Mr. Tanner, am planning to get laid fabulously well for a change, and then sleep like the dead.” He smirked and removed his cufflinks, tucking them in the vest pocket. “Possibly until noon.”

Vin returned the smirk, settling a little more comfortably in his chair and watching Ezra’s deft fingers as they began unfastening the buttons of his shirt. “I like the sound of that, but I ain’t bettin’ on you _sleepin_ ’ that late, whether you’re still in bed or not.”

Chris snickered, and when Vin glanced towards him he saw that Chris was already stripped down to his black denims. “Pony’ll wake us up, if Vin doesn’t. Spoiled horse feels downright mistreated if he doesn’t eat by an hour after sunup.”

“And who spoiled him?” Ezra asked teasingly, turning to look at Chris as he shrugged slowly out of his shirt.

Vin smirked and shifted in his chair as he watched Ezra’s white silk shirt slide down to reveal a tight sleeveless undershirt and skin almost as pale as cream. Ezra didn’t have an extra ounce of weight on him from what Vin could see, and in fact was ribby enough that Vin thought idly he needed to make sure Ezra drank less and ate a little more. Still, what there was of him was a sight to behold, all sleek muscle and pale skin that was as close to flawless as any Vin had seen except for some scattered scars. The mute testimony to Ezra’s rough life might have lessened the overall effect for some, but not for Vin. He had plenty of scars of his own and thought they were just part of what made Ezra who he was.

“That’d be Vin,” Chris said finally as Ezra dropped the shirt, smirking as he leaned against the wall by the door to watch. “He’s the one up hours before dawn most days, an’ he always feeds the mooch.”

Vin snickered, grinning at Chris. “Like he gives me a choice.” He looked back at Ezra, adding, “Pony was plumb rotten long before I showed up.”

Ezra chuckled and reached for the hem of his undershirt, tugging it up and then off in one easy motion. Vin had no idea how Ezra stayed in such good shape as reluctant as he was to actually do anything resembling work, but he definitely managed somehow. The play of muscles under his pale skin as he moved reminded Vin of an especially fine horse, so sleek and beautiful he just had to touch. He barely realized he was moving before he was standing in front of Ezra, his hands stroking along Ezra’s sides.

Ezra looked at Vin with only a little surprise, his clear green eyes amused with just a hint of heat, and Vin returned the smile as he whispered, “Had to touch.” He leaned in and kissed Ezra softly, then murmured, “I can’t wait to get you an’ Chris into the water.” His hands slid around to stroke Ezra’s back as he kissed Ezra again, slow and deep, and then Ezra pressed closer to him with a soft little hungry sound that made Vin suddenly wish they weren’t headed for the creek after all. The bed was a hell of a lot closer, and they could always bathe afterwards. They’d need to, if things went as well as it looked like they might.

Chris was suddenly pressing close behind Vin, chuckling soft and low as he unbuckled the tie-down on Vin’s holster and then slid his arms around Vin and began removing the gunbelt. “That’d happen a lot faster if you shucked out of your clothes instead of distractin’ him,” Chris teased right by Vin's ear, tugging the gunbelt free and dropping it on Ezra’s vest on the nearby table. 

Vin finally ended the kiss, looking into Ezra’s sparkling, hungry eyes for a long moment before he glanced over his shoulder at Chris. “I can strip plenty fast to stay ahead of you two, an’ distractin’ him’s pretty nice.”

Ezra laughed and blushed slightly, moving his hands to begin undoing the buttons on Vin’s shirt. “If you won’t remove this, I will.”

“Great idea,” Chris said, smirking as he opened the top button of Vin’s pants.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

Something woke Ezra well after dawn the next morning, and he blinked his eyes open sleepily only to find himself staring at the back of a familiar neck. He hadn’t had many occasions to be so close to the nape of Vin’s neck before, it was true, but there was no mistaking those memorable little curls that were usually hidden by longer hair. Ezra had glimpsed them before and been fascinated every time, wondering if they could possibly be as soft as they looked.

He noticed a purpling bruise nearly hidden by Vin’s hair then and felt his face heating up, remembering more of the night before. He’d left that lovebite there, among a few others he knew would be scattered over Vin’s exceedingly flexible body. He had the sudden urge to explore those marks he had left and smiled as he remembered that he was allowed to do just that, and that both Chris and Vin had even encouraged him to. He nuzzled into Vin’s hair without any further thought, enjoying the way those soft curls felt against his face as he pressed a tender kiss to the bite mark and tightened his arms around Vin’s lean waist.

Vin purred and arched his neck, giving Ezra better access as he rocked back against Ezra’s morning erection, drawing a groan. “Mmm,” Vin murmured, his voice soft and low but very awake, “seems the rest of him’s finally awake.”

Chris chuckled softly and Ezra felt the bed shift, then Chris was leaning over Vin and smirking at him. “Mornin’ Ezra. Sleep well?”

Ezra smiled and kissed Vin’s shoulder, then shifted to prop himself up on one elbow, still pressed close against Vin and enjoying the feel of that firm lithe body against his own. “Like the proverbial log, I assure you.” He leaned a bit more towards Chris and felt a rush of warmth and pleasure when Chris moved to meet him without hesitation.

Even morning breath couldn’t detract from Ezra’s pleasure at receiving another of Chris’ rare undemanding kisses, lingering and gentle and full of love, not just desire. It was quite unlike the confident plundering Chris had indulged in often the night before, but even more welcome as far as Ezra was concerned. Chris was just as dominant in bed as Ezra had always thought he would be, ardent and confident in what he wanted and how to get it, and yet he was still so very gentle, even generous. Ezra had greatly enjoyed finding out how thrilling it felt to have all that intensity focused on him, but the realization that Chris cared deeply about him was much more important to him.

Vin shifted between them, rolling to his back, and when Chris finally ended the kiss Ezra saw that Vin was smirking at them and looking smug with his hands folded on his belly. His hair was tangled and wild around his head on the pillow and his blue eyes sparkled bright in the early morning sunshine, and Ezra found himself thinking again how very lucky he was that either of them could find it in him to share the other so freely. Ezra knew just how privileged he was to be allowed into their relationship, to be _welcomed_ there, and he treasured it.

Ezra snorted, amused. “And why do you look so pleased with yourself, if I may ask?”

“I got you two into the same bed before I was too old to enjoy it,” Vin responded immediately. “I reckon I’m allowed some smug.”

Chris’ laugh was loud in the quiet cabin, answered immediately by a loud neigh from just outside.

Vin snickered. “Knew he’d be complain’ before much longer. Let me up, I gotta go anyway.”

Ezra shifted to let Vin move when Vin started to extract himself from between them, but Chris stopped Vin by planting hand against his chest with a smirk. “Not so fast there, pard. You forgot to tell Ezra g’morning.”

Vin grinned at Chris. “I was gettin’ to that, cowboy.” He kissed Chris, hard and fast, and then he was moving again and Ezra found himself pinned down with Vin sitting on him and smirking. Vin leaned forward, bracing his hands on either side of Ezra’s head as he slowly flexed his hips, making Ezra groan and thrust upward involuntarily. “Mornin’, Ezra,” Vin purred as he leaned down, smirking wickedly. He kissed Ezra a moment later, hips flexing again while he explored Ezra’s mouth thoroughly. Ezra made a low strangled noise into the kiss as he reached for Vin, running his hands over Vin’s smooth, muscular body as his hips rocked up to meet Vin.

“Good morning,” Ezra managed after Vin finally ended the kiss, breathless and so aroused he could barely think. He noticed Chris watching them then, and his eyes widened slightly as he saw the hungry look in Chris’ eyes. Chris had looked at him the same way the night before just prior to fucking him into the mattress and reducing him to a very satisfied but quite boneless puddle.

Vin looked down at Ezra a moment longer and then at Chris, smirking. “Wake him up good for me, Chris.”

Chris grinned, wicked and predatory as his gaze flicked to meet Vin’s and then went right back to Ezra. “You got it.”

Ezra stared into Chris’ eyes a moment before he made himself look up at Vin, surprised and nearly laughing as he repeated, “Wake me up?”

Vin leaned down to kiss Ezra as if he might devour him, then he grinned impishly at him. “He’s a mornin’ person, Ez, just like me.” Vin patted Ezra’s chest and then he was moving away without another word, climbing off the bed and padding naked out into the next room as he called over his shoulder, “And after I get the horses fed, it’s my turn.”

Ezra stared after Vin a moment, enjoying the view, then looked suddenly at Chris. “His turn with you or I?”

“Both of us, knowin’ him,” Chris replied, grinning wickedly. "He's damned near as hard to tucker out as that horse of his."

“And then breakfast!” Vin called from the next room. “I’m starving!”

Ezra looked towards Vin again with a surprised laugh. “Make up your mind! Am I supposed to be in bed or cooking?”

Vin grinned at Ezra, already buttoning his britches with one suspender slung over his bare shoulder. “Bed, then food.” Vin headed quickly for the door, snatching a shirt up out of the floor on the way. “By the time we’re all dressed, y’all are gonna be hungry too.”

Chris snickered as the door closed behind Vin, and Ezra looked back at Chris, bemused. “Is he always like this in the morning?”

Chris grinned. “Nah, usually he’s in a hurry.” Ezra blinked at that and Chris snickered, adding, “We skipped our evenin’ coffee last night an’ didn’t have any beer, so Mother Nature’s call wasn’t quite so urgent as usual. Most mornings he’s off like a shot right after he opens his eyes.” He smirked. “Sure is nice when he comes back, though.”

Ezra recalled suddenly Vin’s propensity on the trail to leap out of his bedroll and bolt for the bushes and then laughed. “That wasn’t what I meant.” He grinned impishly at Chris, turning towards him and moving one hand to rest against Chris’ chest as he teased, “I was wondering if he always wakes up so cheerfully horny.”

Chris smirked and moved to roll Ezra onto his back again, leaning over him. “He’s picked that up from me. Self defense most likely.”

Ezra’s chuckle was quickly muffled by Chris’ lips, and then faded into a low moan as Chris’ body settled over his. Chris kissed him slow and deep, exploring Ezra’s mouth even as one hand roamed along his side, gentle but strong, just like the lean, solidly muscled body pressing Ezra into the featherbed so deliciously. Ezra sucked on Chris’ tongue with a soft pleased sound, one hand on Chris’ shoulder as the other slid into his hair. Chris growled as he shifted slightly, and then his hand was sliding between them and down and a moment later Ezra made a strangled noise and arched up against him.

Mornings were Ezra’s least favorite time of day by far, but for the first time in years he found himself thinking he could learn to love them. Waking up to Vin’s sparkling blue eyes and cheerful enthusiasm would be enough to inspire such feelings, but adding in the heady pleasure of Chris’ very amorous attentions ensured that Ezra was already looking forward to waking up in their bed again.

The fact the sun was barely over the trees outside didn’t figure in at all.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Pony followed Vin around behind the cabin to the outhouse, waiting patiently for him while Peso and Chaucer grazed near the barn. He greeted Vin with a low nicker when he emerged again, and Vin laughed.

“I’m workin’ on it.”

Pony’s ears flicked and he watched interestedly as Vin pulled Chris’ shirt on. Vin had grabbed the shirt on his way out the door, more in case someone should ride up than because he felt the need for one just to feed the horses. He didn’t bother to button it before he moved towards Pony’s shoulder, grinning. “Wanna go for a run, fellah?”

Pony’s ear flicked back and he looked at Vin out of the corner of his eye, making no move to get away, and Vin grinned as he sprang onto Pony’s back. He leaned forward, his hands low on either side of Pony’s neck, and Pony leaped straight ahead, galloping towards the trail that led to town.

Vin laughed and enjoyed the always-exhilarating sensation of being in control of so much power and grace, turning Pony in a wide arc with the slightest pressure of fingers and knee to point him down the long meadow. Peso threw up his head and leapt into a gallop to chase them, tail flagged, and Chaucer was hot on his heels. They both passed Pony and Vin about halfway down the meadow, manes and tails streaming, and Vin grinned as he watched the two geldings try to outrun each other. Chaucer managed to take the lead for a moment, but then Peso’s ears pinned and he poured on a little more speed, edging past Chaucer just as they pounded onto the faint trail that led west.

Vin sat up and Pony slid to a halt in a flurry of dust, prancing a bit because he wanted to follow Chaucer and Peso. Vin patted Pony’s neck to calm him and let out a piercing whistle, and he laughed at the way Chaucer deftly planted his hind feet and spun to run back towards him. Peso was slower to turn, pinning his ears again when he saw Chaucer well ahead of him, and Vin turned Pony, kicking him lightly in the ribs.

Pony bolted towards the barn and Vin urged him on faster as he clung to Pony’s back, his cheek resting against Pony’s mane. Chaucer passed them a moment later, tail flagged, and Pony’s ears flicked back for the first time as he put on another burst of speed and tried to catch up to the leggier bay. Peso drew up on their other side, running hard as he caught Pony and then Chaucer and then slowly left them both behind. Peso was the first to reach the barn by half a dozen strides, twisting and plunging to a halt between the corral and the open barn doors. Chaucer reached Peso then and they both reared to play, bellowing and squealing like they were killing each other.

Pony slid to a halt at the barn door a moment later, prancing a few steps and tossing his head as he snorted loudly at the two wrestling geldings. Vin laughed at Peso and Chaucer, throwing his leg over Pony’s neck and sliding to the ground as he looked towards the borrowed wagon mares. The matched bays were placidly munching hay in the corral, watching the goings on with interest but too used to Peso and Chaucer to be spooked by all the noise they made.

Vin grinned and patted Pony’s neck, then started into the barn with Pony at his shoulder, chuckling a bit to himself. “Those two are never gonna grow up, Pony. They’ll be actin’ like colts ‘til the day they die.”

Pony ignored him, moving straight to the second stall on the right and going in to get a drink. Vin had just stepped up into the feed room when Chaucer bolted past, swerving into his own stall beyond Pony’s and then whirling around with a loud snort as he threw his head up, half rearing. Peso was standing in the barn doorway, blowing and pawing the ground with his neck arched and his ears pinned.

Vin gave Chaucer a dirty look. “You’re lucky you didn’t run me over, you’d be going hungry this mornin’.”

Chaucer pawed the hard-packed dirt floor of his stall impatiently and then turned to his water bucket to dump it with a loud splash.

Vin groaned and moved further into the feed room, ignoring the sound of Chaucer rattling the water bucket as he muttered to himself, “Crazy horse.” Chaucer was always dumping his water, no matter what stall he was in. He seemed to think any bucket was a toy and took great pleasure in emptying one so he could play with it.

Vin made short work of filling a bucket with six scoops of grain, adding in a little molasses and stirring it in well before he grabbed the metal measuring scoop and headed towards the stalls. Peso was gone, but Pony and Chaucer were both watching him and waiting, ears pricked. Vin fed Pony first, giving him just one scoop of feed because Pony was an easy keeper and already a little on the pudgy side from spending so much time standing around sleeping the last few weeks. Chaucer was next, and he got a second scoop of grain because he wouldn’t hold weight on any less, especially when he was going to be turned out for the day.

Vin walked to the barn door after Chaucer was fed, looking for Peso, and he laughed. Peso evidently hadn’t had enough exercise to suit him because he was halfway down the meadow again, leaping and twisting through a bucking fit. The rangy mustang was eerily silent other than the sound of his hooves and an occasional soft grunt of effort when he gave a particularly prodigious leap, and Vin knew he was well and truly pissed about Chaucer abandoning him. Peso was always loud when he was just playing, squalling and bellowing like someone was trying to kill him, but when he went silent like that even Vin had to steer clear until he got it out of his system. Peso wouldn’t do him any serious harm, but he played rough when he was mad and Vin intended to keep his hide intact. He already had scars from Peso taking a chunk out of him when he didn’t pay attention to the gelding’s mood, and he never intended to get another one if he could avoid it.

Vin chuckled and shook his head after a moment, walking over to the corral to feed Yosemite’s mares as he thought about cutting out Peso’s grain altogether on days he was stalled in town. He obviously had too much energy to burn even the next day, and that was a dangerous thing. Next time Peso might decide to throw that teeth-rattling bronc fit while Vin was on his back, or he might kick down the door to his stall at the livery just to have something to do. A bored Peso was an unpredictable Peso, and his sense of humor was wicked. He had walked right up into the grocers once when he got loose in town a few weeks before, and the folks inside were so scared of his reputation that Peso got to eat half a watermelon by the time someone could get Vin to get him out of there.

The bays greeted Vin with soft whuffling noises when he ducked through the rails into the corral, and he stopped to feed them each a handful of feed before he moved towards the middle of the corral. He measured out two scoops of grain on the hard-packed dirt there, separating them by several feet, and then he took a minute to pet the bays before he started back towards the barn.

They were nice mares to start a breeding program with, but Vin had a feeling Yosemite wouldn’t sell them. There wasn’t much chance at all they wouldn’t throw quality colts by Yosemite’s quarter horse stallion, Rondo, not with him being by Steeldust and out of a mare by Shiloh. Steeldust and Shiloh were well-known names amongst Texas horsemen, both quarter-mile racers that could work stock with the best of them. Steeldust and Shiloh both threw better than the mare they were bred to, and Vin had no doubt Rondo did the same. Vin had met both of the famous stallions and seen several of the colts Rondo had sired, too. Even the foal Rondo had sired out of a scrubby little mustang who had jumped a fence was turning out to be a nice stocky filly, and the bay team was so nice to begin with that Vin figured their foals by Rondo would have to be something special.

Vin ducked through the corral rails again and moved halfway back to the barn door, then stopped and just stood looking at his horse.

Peso had stopped bucking and was standing about fifty feet away with his head held high, sweaty and blowing just a bit as he watched Vin. Even after years together the sight could still bring a smile to Vin’s face. To other people he might just be a black horse with an attitude problem, but to Vin he was freedom and beauty and wicked intelligence wrapped up in a near-perfect shining hide. Peso was just as spectacular as he had been the first time Vin saw him, all fire and grace with the deep chest and long legs to outrun all but the very fastest of horses. Peso had been passed in a sprint a few times, but he had bested every horse Vin had ever put him up against over a mile or more.

Vin lifted the bucket after a few moments to shake it, letting Peso hear the rattle of the grain in it. “C’mon. I saved yours, even if you did run off.”

Peso stared a moment longer and then started forward confidently, trotting slowly up to Vin and then stopping as he reached for the bucket.

Vin smiled and let Peso take a mouthful of grain, then took the bucket away and dropped the scoop into it, freeing his other hand. He reached for Peso’s forelock, smiling wider when Peso stood calmly for him to grasp it. “Come on, Peso.” He turned towards the barn and Peso let himself be led to his stall, going in quietly.

Vin dumped the rest of the grain into Peso’s feeder and then patted the gelding’s shoulder and went to go put the bucket and scoop away. He was out of the barn a minute or two later, leaving the occupied stalls open as he headed back towards the cabin. Chaucer was such a pig he’d finish his feed about the time Pony did even though he had twice as much, and they would both steer clear of Peso’s stall to head back out to graze instead of trying to steal Peso’s grain. Peso had no sense of humor about another horse in his stall with him when he had feed, and would be done soon after the other two were anyway.

Vin had just reached the porch when he heard a horse whinny on the trail towards town, and he turned to look in surprise. Nathan lifted one hand in a wave while Josiah just grinned, their horses already halfway down the hill and coming on at a slow jog.

“So much for goin’ right back to bed,” Vin muttered to himself as he returned the wave, bemused and thinking he really should have put his own shirt on instead of grabbing Chris’ favorite out of the floor on his way out the door. There could be no doubt that the shirt wasn’t Vin’s – he didn’t own any that were even similar – and Nathan was sure to recognize it. He didn’t miss much.

“Mornin’ Nathan. Josiah,” Vin called when Nathan and Josiah were close enough he wouldn’t have to yell. He heard a squeak and a thump inside and had to work at it not to laugh, unable to keep from grinning. It sounded like that had gotten Ezra moving, at least. He was pretty sure it hadn’t been Chris who squeaked like a goosed little girl. “Why don’t y’all turn your horses out while I kick Chris and Ezra out of their beds and get some coffee on?” Vin heard Chris groan inside and grinned a little wider, thinking it’d be no less than Chris deserved if he got to the coffee pot first. He _had_ been out feeding the horses while Chris was enjoying himself with Ezra, after all.

“Coffee sounds good, my friend,” Josiah called cheerfully, guiding Seeker towards the corral. “We brought breakfast.”

“Colette’s biscuits and gravy with plenty of sausage, bacon, and eggs,” Nathan added with a smile. “She even sent some mushrooms she said Ezra would want.”

Vin did laugh then. “He’s plumb crazy about some egg thing made with onions an’ mushrooms. Eats it practically every day when he can get the mushrooms. Give me the biscuits and gravy any day.” He grinned at Nathan and Josiah and then turned to head into the cabin, adding, “Just come on in when you get your horses taken care of.”

Josiah chuckled. “We’ll be along.”

Vin grinned at them over his shoulder and then went inside, wanting to at least get all the clothes scattered around the main room of the cabin to picked up before Josiah and Nathan came in. It’d be kind of hard to explain to Nathan why Ezra’s silk drawers were on the kitchen table on top of Chris’ pants and Vin’s gun.

Almost as hard as it was going to be for Vin to explain away why he was wearing Chris’ favorite shirt, in fact.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Chris relaxed next to Ezra with a soft pleased groan, breathing hard as Ezra purred contentedly next to him.

Chris had realized a long time ago that he had never wanted anyone like he wanted – _needed_ – Vin, not even Sarah, but he had never expected for Ezra to grow to be a close second in his heart. There would never be anyone else like Vin in his life, something Ezra knew long before Chris did, but that didn’t mean Chris hadn’t loved his wife, or that he couldn’t love Ezra. He did, and had for a good long while, and he was sure he would until the day he died. He might not understand it even a little, but he wasn’t about to try and deny it.

Vin was a lot smarter than Chris was about that kind of thing, accepting his feelings without trying to label them just as easily as he understood Chris’ feelings, but even Chris was finally sure. He couldn’t have said if he needed Ezra more than he had needed Sarah or not, which strangely enough reassured him about his relationship with Sarah instead of making him worry he didn’t love Ezra enough. It was enough that he had loved her, even though his love for Sarah – or for Ezra – sometimes seemed like a candle next to the bonfire of what he felt for Vin.

Just because he had a spectacular aged bourbon didn’t mean there was anything wrong with a fine cigar. They were both very good apart, but even better together.

Like bourbon and a cigar, Vin and Ezra were both very much worth his time apart, but even better together. They seemed to have little in common to the casual eye, but down deep they were a lot alike. The more Chris saw of the real Ezra, the man that Ezra worked so hard to hide from those he didn’t trust implicitly, the more Chris was drawn to him. Many of the things he loved about Vin were traits Ezra shared, and he couldn’t help but enjoy them in Ezra as well.

“Mornin’ Nathan. Josiah,” Vin suddenly said outside, his voice pitched as if he were calling to someone.

Chris’ eyes sprang open as Ezra squeaked and leapt out of bed like someone set fire to his tail, feet thumping to the floor before he cringed at the noise and hurried silently into the next room to grab his clothes.

“Why don’t y’all turn your horses out while I kick Chris and Ezra out of their beds and get some coffee on?” Vin said just outside the window, and Chris groaned as he sat up and swung his feet out of bed.

“No way in hell he’s makin’ the coffee,” Chris grumbled to himself, standing and heading into the other room to get his pants.

Ezra looked worriedly at the curtained window near the door as he grabbed his undershirt and pants out of the floor, then glanced at Chris as he whispered furiously, “Nathan said he wouldn’t be here until _after_ noon!”

Chris snickered, taking his pants off the table and watching Ezra move towards the back of the cabin. He still didn’t know what it was Ezra did to stay in such good shape, but he sure hoped he kept doing it. Several months of having Vin in his bed had taught him to appreciate a man's body as nothing else could have, and Ezra was definitely worth taking the time to enjoy the view. Often. “Seems he forgot that, Ez.” He started to step into his britches, adding quietly, ”Like you forgot your silk drawers.”

Ezra returned to the table to grab his underwear, blushing, and then hurried towards his room, scowling and muttering to himself.

Chris grinned as he buttoned his pants, able to hear voices outside still even though he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. He figured Josiah and Nathan must be pretty close because Vin wasn’t raising his voice anymore. He looked around for his shirt, snorting when he found Vin’s instead. “Damned thief,” he muttered to himself, moving towards the stove to stoke up the fire and add some tinder and kindling so he could get coffee going. The stove was cool to the touch and would take a while to heat up, despite the lingering coals that would make starting a fire easy enough.

Vin walked in just as Chris was closing the stove and Chris looked over at him, unable to keep from smiling when he saw that Vin was decidedly windblown and hadn’t yet bothered to button the dark maroon shirt he was wearing. He figured Vin had gone for a run with the horses to give him more time alone with Ezra, and he was grateful for it even though Vin would have been welcome if he joined them. Ezra was still a bit unsure he could trust in his feelings, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, and Chris figured that some one-on-one time with each of them would be good for him.

They were a package deal, of course, but just because Vin wasn’t there didn’t mean Chris wasn’t interested in Ezra anymore, and Ezra needed to know that. Most of his attraction to Ezra at first had been emotional, but he had still noticed Ezra’s physical charms long before he had the chance to sample them himself. Afterwards he had known there would be no chance of ever forgetting what it felt like to have Ezra let down all of his defenses and trust Chris to take care of him. It was a bit overwhelming the first time for both of them, especially Ezra, but Chris figured he could get used to the intensity he hadn’t quite expected to be there between them.

“Nathan and Josiah are here,” Vin said cheerfully, dragging Chris out of his thoughts again.

Chris watched as Vin began to gather up the few clothes still scattered in the floor, amused. “I heard,” he said dryly, filling the coffee pot with water. “You have fun stealin’ my favorite shirt?”

Vin grinned at him, hands full of socks and his own shirt. “You want it back? They already saw me wearin’ it.”

“Hell yes I want it back!” Chris said quickly, laughing, “but like you said, it’s too damned late now.” He moved the coffee pot back to the stove. “You ain’t workin’ in it, though.”

Vin moved towards their bedroom, smirking. “Ezra’ll like that.”

Chris snorted and moved to get the Arbuckle’s, amused. Vin finally seemed to be getting used to the idea he didn’t have to be covered from chin to toes all the time, even if there were other people around. That couldn’t be anything but good as far as Chris was concerned. 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

Josiah put his heavy old Mexican saddle on the top rail of the corral, amused and hoping Vin had gotten at least Chris moving by the time they got inside. The way Vin’s hair had been thoroughly tangled and the fact Vin was barefoot and hadn’t yet buttoned his shirt – _Chris’_ shirt – told Josiah all he needed to know about where Vin had likely been headed when they rode up. Unless he missed his guess, Chris had been waiting for Vin in bed.

“Wasn’t that Chris’ shirt Vin was wearin’?” Nathan asked suddenly.

Josiah looked over at Nathan, not really surprised he had noticed. Anyone who knew Nathan knew that he didn’t miss much. “Hmm?”

“Looked to me like the shirt Chris was wearin’ yesterday,” Nathan added.

“Could be,” Josiah agreed, moving to Seeker to take off his bridle. He heard horses and looked towards the barn in surprise, smiling when he saw Chaucer following Pony out of the barn. Vin had evidently left their stalls open when he fed them, which really was no surprise once he thought about it. The boy hated to see a horse locked up that didn’t need to be. He’d grown up in a world where the pony herds roamed free and stayed with their riders by choice, not because of fences, and he still believed that was the way it should be between a man and his horse.

“I’m pretty sure Chris was wearin’ it,” Nathan said firmly, drawing Josiah’s attention back to him. “But why would Vin be wearin’ it now? They just got their laundry done. Ol’ Lester mentioned when I got mine that he’d spent half the day washin’ clothes ‘cause Chris and Vin had dropped off what seemed like everything they owned on him.”

Josiah made a mental note to have a talk with Vin about wearing Chris’ clothing, even though he had no doubt Vin hadn’t expected them so early. Buck had warned him before they rode out that Nathan had told Vin and Ezra to expect him around noon, not an hour past dawn, and asked him to run interference with Nathan if he could. He slipped Seeker’s bridle and patted the sorrel’s shoulder, then turned to lean on the corral and smile at his friend.

Nathan had already removed Foxy’s saddle and was on his knee putting hobbles on her front legs just above the ankle. Foxy couldn’t be turned out with Chaucer or Peso without being hobbled first because she would have been harassing them all day and eventually one of them would hurt her. Foxy was a sturdy mare and tough as riding horses went, but both Peso and Chaucer were fighters who wouldn’t take her abuse. If she got too close to them they would go on the defensive, and the slightest aggressive move on her part would have caused them to attack to keep her from getting the upper hand on them. Josiah wouldn’t put money on the mare if she tangled with either one, especially Peso. The black mustang had no sense of humor when another horse tried to bully him, and he could kill faster than a striking rattler when he wanted to.

“Does it really matter, Nathan?” Josiah asked after watching Nathan for a minute or two. “It’s just a shirt.”

“Naw, not really,” Nathan said as he stood and pulled Foxy’s bridle over her ears finally. The bay pinned her ears at him and turned awkwardly away, taking tiny mincing steps to get to the nearest patch of grass because the hobbles kept her from walking normally. Nathan hung the bridle on his saddle and then hefted the oversized saddlebags that held their breakfast, looking at Josiah again. “I’ve noticed him wearin’ Chris’ clothes before, but usually it’s the stuff Chris don’t wear. He _likes_ that shirt, though. It’s one of his favorites.”

“Likely why Vin took it, then,” Josiah commented, amused suddenly. Vin’s prankster nature just might save him for a change, instead of getting him in trouble. “You know how he likes to tweak Chris’ tail sometimes just because he can.”

Nathan looked surprised and then laughed. “You know, I bet that’s it.”

“Makes sense,” Josiah agreed, then he nodded towards the cabin with a grin. “Shall we?”

Nathan grinned and nodded, heading towards the cabin. “I wonder if Vin’ll be able to get Ezra out of bed this early?”

Josiah chuckled. “I imagine he’ll think of something. Ezra does the cooking, after all.”

Nathan snickered and nodded. “Good point.”

They covered the rest of the distance to the cabin without speaking, clattering up the steps and then entering the cabin. Vin and Ezra were nowhere to be seen, and the doors leading to the cabin’s other three rooms were all closed. Vin’s gun was on the table, and three pairs of boots were scattered around the floor.

Chris was at the stove adding wood to the firebox, shirtless and looking amused but a bit annoyed too. He looked up as soon as he had the fire going well enough to suit him, nodding to them. “Mornin’. Vin said you brought breakfast?”

“Yep,” Nathan said with a smile. “Sorry to run you out of bed. JD offered to come get me if anyone came by the clinic, and I figured I’d be more use helpin’ out here than sittin’ around town waitin’ on folks that might not even need me.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Chris said, dismissing the idea. “You didn’t wake me up anyway.” The door to Chris’ room opened and Chris gave Vin a dirty look as he emerged, somehow managing to look annoyed and amused at the same time. “ _He_ did, gettin’ the horses all fired up with a run. Can’t nobody sleep with Chaucer and Peso leapin’ around outside, bellowin’ like a couple of broncs.”

Vin grinned at Chris, still wearing Chris’ shirt, though now it was buttoned neatly and tucked in. “You’ll live.” He was carrying the top half of an old union suit that had the sleeves cut off, and he threw it at Chris. “Now stop fussing about me stealin’ your shirt.”

Chris snorted and pulled the dingy grey shirt over his head, not bothering to fasten the three open buttons at the throat. “It _is_ my shirt, and it ain’t like you don’t have one clean.”

Vin smirked and moved over to take the saddlebags of food from Nathan. “I do, now that you mention it.” He grinned at Nathan and Josiah, adding, “Take your hats off and stay a while.”

Nathan passed over the saddlebags, bemused. “Be careful, there’s eggs in there, and a glass jar too.”

“I won’t break ‘em,” Vin said confidently, carrying the food to the table.

Nathan went to go hang his hat and coat on the pegs by the door and Josiah moved to follow him, amused at Vin’s brazen refusal to explain himself. It seemed to be working, at least so far.

Nathan took off his hat and reached to hang it on the same peg with Vin’s hat, but he froze before he actually hung it up, staring at the guns hanging on the wall. Josiah wondered what so surprised Nathan until he realized that all three of Ezra’s guns hung neatly on top of Vin and Ezra’s coats, next to Chris’ coat and Peacemaker. The Remington that Ezra _always_ slept with, the gun he refused to let out of reach even when he was too badly injured to use it, was hanging on the same peg as Vin’s hat and coat.

A very annoyed, very badly _shot_ Ezra had once threatened to shoot Nathan for trying to take it, and Josiah had heard him tell the healer then that he allowed it out of reach for only two reasons: to bathe and to have sex. There would be precious little chance of explaining that away, Josiah knew, and he felt it like a punch to the gut.

If there was one thing that Ezra did not need it was the condemnation of a friend, and Josiah was afraid that Nathan would react in just such a way. He was not the most tolerant of men about some things, especially where Ezra was concerned. Nathan liked Ezra most of the time and would die fighting beside him if need be, but sometimes he still couldn’t quite quell an instinctive reaction to Ezra’s courtly Southern ways Nathan had so often run afoul of as a boy. To find out Ezra was also what Josiah had once heard Nathan refer to as a ‘filthy catamite’ would likely lead to nothing but trouble.

“Is Ezra okay?” Nathan asked suddenly, turning to look at Chris and Vin with a frown.

Josiah prayed silently to whatever divine beings might be listening for Vin or Chris to be inspired with a story that would satisfy Nathan and didn’t involve admitting Ezra was in love with both of them. Nathan was Josiah’s best friend, but he had a feeling the man just would not be able to accept the idea of the three men together. Josiah had serious doubts that Nathan could accept the idea of even just Chris and Vin in a relationship, despite how close they had always been. Nathan was prudish enough that he didn’t approve of many of Buck’s sexual escapades, and Buck at least confined his affections to women.

Vin looked up from emptying the saddlebags, surprised. “Yeah, why?”

Nathan jerked his head towards the guns without taking his eyes off Vin and Chris. “Because his Remington’s hangin’ here on the wall.”

“He doesn’t need it when he's asleep, Nathan,” Chris said with a shrug, pouring the jar of gravy into an iron skillet to reheat it.

‘ _Lord, please help your fools think of a better reason than that_ ,” Josiah prayed silently. ‘ _Nathan is not that gullible_.’

“He don’t need it in the clinic either, but that don’t mean he’d give it up,” Nathan said quickly, frowning. “He won’t even let me take that gun from him when he’s got a bullet in him. Threatened to shoot me more than once when I tried.”

Vin looked at Nathan a moment and then said reasonably, “Well, _we_ didn’t take it from him. Maybe it’s different, bein’ out here with nobody around but us. I never asked him about it, myself. He’s been hangin’ up his guns just like we do for weeks now.”

“You didn’t hang yours up,” Nathan pointed out, “you got it right to hand.”

“There aren’t enough pegs to hang them all, Nathan,” Chris said, giving Nathan an amused look. “We ain’t got that done yet, and Vin’s always first up and about. Makes the most sense to leave his gun down, since he usually wears it whenever he's awake.”

“Chris, I know Ezra wouldn’t let that gun out of his sight!”

Chris’ amusement disappeared and his grey-green eyes hardened. “Do you think we hit Ezra over the head and tied him up or something? ‘Cause we didn’t, Nathan.” He pointed to the door to Ezra’s room, which was the largest of the four rooms in the cabin and situated directly behind Chris’ room. “He’s sleepin’ right through there, unless he got outta bed when Vin tried wakin’ him up. Go see for yourself if you’re so damned sure we can’t be trusted.”

“He was gettin’ up,” Vin said before Nathan had a chance to speak. “He wants that mushroom thing Colette sent the makin’s for, an’ he don’t want us to reheat the rest. Says we’ll burn it.”

Chris snorted. “Sounds like Ezra.”

The door to Ezra’s room opened and he walked out looking very much his usual immaculate self in a crisp white ruffled shirt and snug black trousers. He looked a bit grumpy and was carrying a pair of socks, stalking barefoot across the room towards where his boots were laying near one wall. “Whatever you are discussing, I had nothing to do with it. I was trying unsuccessfully to sleep, as the detestable _squirrel_ I share a room with can attest.”

Josiah glanced at Nathan and the surprised look on Nathan’s face made him wonder if Nathan really had thought Chris or Vin could hurt Ezra. They would sooner take a bullet than let anyone hurt Ezra, and Josiah could hardly believe that Nathan didn’t know that as well as he did. Chris and Vin were both as protective of Ezra as a she-bear with cubs, especially after the recent incident in the saloon. Chris had gone so far as to pull the others aside the next day to ask them to help him make sure Ezra wasn’t left alone in town again for any reason, and Josiah wondered suddenly if Nathan had been included in that request.

Vin snickered. “Got a guilty conscience, Ez?”

Ezra gave Vin a level look. “It is far too early for me to feel any guilt whatsoever, Mr. Tanner. I could cheerfully commit murder for a pot of coffee.”

Chris snickered and moved back to the stove, putting the gravy on to heat and then turning his back to it. “Sit down and put your boots on, Ez. You’ll get your coffee when it’s done.”

Ezra snatched up his tall riding boots and moved towards the table. “I distinctly heard my name mentioned as I was reaching for my door.” He sat down and put one ankle on his other knee, dusting off the bottom of his foot and then pulling his sock on as he looked at Chris, then Vin, then at Nathan and Josiah. “If I was not being blamed for something, then what was being said behind my back?”

“Nothin’ important, Ezra,” Josiah said, smiling. “Nathan here is just worried about you, is all.”

“Worried?” Ezra asked, eyebrows lifting as he reached for his boot. “Why ever for?”

“Seems kind of silly now,” Nathan said, bemused. “Just, you usually fight tooth and claw to keep your Remington to hand, and I saw it hangin’ there by the door. Worried me some.”

Ezra snorted, amused. “Nathan, I assure you, there is nothing wrong with me that several cups of coffee and a good breakfast won’t cure.” His nose twitched and he looked sharply at the stove, then at Chris. “Either stir the gravy or take it off the fire until I get my boots on, Chris. You’re scorching it but I am _not_ getting near a hot stove until my feet are safely booted.”

Chris turned back to the stove, grabbing a thick leather scrap off a nail over the stove and then using it to pick up the gravy pan to take it off the fire. He carried it with him to retrieve a spoon out of the tin can of wooden utensils by the sink, looking amused as he said, “You’d think I ruined it the way you’re carrying on, Ezra.”

Vin snickered and moved his gunbelt to hang on the back of his chair. “Prob’ly would have if he didn’t say anything.”

Nathan chuckled slightly and finally turned back to the pegs on the wall to hang up his hat and coat, and Josiah sent up a quick prayer of thanks. Nathan could worry at an idea like a dog with a bone, and he was glad to see Nathan let the whole thing drop. It would be best for it to happen far from town if Nathan _had_ to learn about Chris and Vin and what they were developing with Ezra, but Josiah felt it would likely be best for all concerned - including Nathan – for Nathan to just stay in the dark.

Chris shook the hand-carved spoon at Vin. “Shut up while you can, thief.” He put the gravy back on the stove and then began stirring it, looking at Ezra. “Better?”

“Much,” Ezra agreed, pulling on his other sock. “If it thickens too much it might need some milk, if we have some.”

“Got a couple jars of it, if the ride out from town didn’t turn it into butter,” Vin said, sitting at the table and getting comfortable. “Chris was gonna make us a pot of chicken an' dumplin’s tomorrow, or sage hen and dumplin's at least.”

Ezra looked at Vin as he pulled on his second boot. “Then I’ll use water for the gravy.”

Vin grinned at Ezra. “That’d be my thought, too. Ain’t much he can cook, but his chicken and dumplin’s is sure the best of it all.”

“Fortunately, by a wide margin,” Ezra said, standing up and stomping each foot once to settle his boots. He moved towards the stove then, making a shooing gesture at Chris. “Go on. Get out of the way and let me cook in peace.”

Josiah chuckled as he moved to pull two of the crates piled along the wall over to the table, shaking his head. He stacked the crates and took a seat on them, watching Chris and Ezra with amusement. Only Ezra or Vin could get away with ordering Chris around like that, and Vin didn’t take advantage of it often. Josiah was pretty sure Ezra did it just because he knew Chris would let him.

Chris rolled his eyes and offered Ezra the spoon. “You keep orderin’ me around like that and folks’ll start wonderin’ what’s wrong with _me_.”

“I know what’s wrong with you,” Ezra said calmly, taking the spoon. “You can only cook two meals well, and neither of them is breakfast.”

Nathan snickered as he settled into one of the chairs at the table. “The man does have a point.”

Josiah stifled a sigh at where Nathan had chosen to sit, leaving it for either Ezra or Chris to have to sit between he and Nathan. He was sure that Chris and Vin would rather keep Ezra between them as they so often did when they were in town, but Nathan’s obliviousness was going to force Chris to choose whether to sit by Vin himself and leave Ezra between Josiah and Nathan, or let Ezra have the chair by Vin.

Chris reached for the coffee pot, giving Nathan a dirty look. “I make good gravy, and bacon.”

Ezra snorted and poked Chris’ side with his free hand. “Go sit down, I’ll get the coffee when it’s done. It’s barely boiling.”

“Orderin’ a man around in his own house,” Chris grumbled good-naturedly as he turned away from the coffee.

Josiah wasn’t very surprised to see Chris and Vin exchange a glance before Chris moved to the chair between Nathan and Josiah and took a seat, leaving the chair between Vin and Josiah for Ezra. It wasn’t that Chris and Vin felt Ezra might need physically protected from Nathan, Josiah knew, but that they would rather have Ezra further from Nathan if the wrong thing happened to be said. Some days it could be hard to figure what would strike Nathan wrong and set him off, and Ezra wasn’t very good at finding something to say that didn’t make it worse.

Ezra glanced over his shoulder at Chris, smirking. “Would you rather eat your own cooking? That could be arranged, I assure you.”

Chris grinned. “No Ezra, you go right ahead. Whatever makes you happy.”

Vin snickered at that and Josiah gave him an amused look, sure that Chris was talking about much more than cooking their meal. Vin caught Josiah looking at him then and winked, smiling and looking rather smug for just a moment, and Josiah grinned.

Unless he missed his guess, Vin and Chris had finally coaxed that wary little Georgia mustang into their corral.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Nathan sipped at his second cup of coffee as he watched his friends finish their breakfast, still thinking about earlier. Ezra _was_ acting different, but he couldn’t quite put a finger on how. He was no more or less cheerful or friendly than he usually was, but something had changed, some subtle difference that nagged on Nathan’s mind even though he couldn’t pin it down. He thought it had something to do with Vin, but that didn’t make much sense to him as he glanced at Vin.

Vin was next to Ezra, sprawled comfortably and holding a mug of coffee as he did his usual fly on the wall impression, and when he noticed Nathan watching him he lifted an eyebrow in silent question. Nathan just shook his head slightly, bemused, and Vin gave him one of those crinkly-eyed smiles that made Vin look as if he knew the punch line to some joke no one else had heard. Nathan chuckled slightly to himself and took another sip of coffee, and when he looked back over at Ezra a moment later he found himself staring into Ezra’s wary green eyes.

“Would you care to share, Mr. Jackson?” Ezra asked with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I fail to see the amusement value in installing a window, but do enlighten me. I could use the laugh.”

Chris snickered and looked towards the others, and Josiah reached for the last slice of bacon to munch contentedly as he listened.

Nathan nodded towards Vin. “I was thinkin’ that he looks like he’s laughin’ inside at some joke nobody else heard.”

Ezra looked at Vin, who turned that same crinkly-eyed smile on Ezra, then Ezra laughed. “He does at that.” He glanced at Nathan, amused, and then back at Vin. “Is there something in particular _you_ find so amusing?”

“Life,” Vin answered promptly, blue eyes twinkling. “That an' wonderin’ why you’re so fascinatin’ to Nathan this mornin’. He’s barely taken his eyes off you since he got done eatin’.”

Ezra looked at Nathan again and Nathan grinned sheepishly, embarrassed that he got caught staring. “I was just ponderin’ on somethin’, Ezra.”

Ezra looked amused, settling back in his chair. “I rather expect asking questions would yield more answers than ‘pondering’. I have very few secrets I am unwilling to share in our present company.”

Nathan chuckled slightly, feeling his face heat up and glad it didn’t really show when he blushed. “Somethin’ seems different today, is all. About you, I mean.” Ezra blinked, obviously surprised, and Nathan added, “I can’t pin down what changed, but somethin’ has for sure.”

Chris snickered. “Likely just seein’ him without his gun, Nathan. You said you weren’t used to that.”

Vin grinned and added, “Or maybe it’s actually seein’ him do somethin’ for a change. Ain’t often you’ll catch him workin’ when he’s in town.”

Josiah laughed. “That is a rare treat.” He smirked at Ezra, teasing, “Brother Ezra makes a divine omelet.”

Ezra looked amused. “Self defense, Josiah, I assure you. Were I to allow Chris or Vin to cook I would surely find an early death of ptomaine poisoning or some other equally unpleasant malady.”

“Keep it up and you’re gonna be goin’ hungry tomorrow,” Chris said with a grin. “My cookin’ hasn’t killed anyone yet. Vin’s been eatin’ it most every day and he’s still goin’ strong.”

Ezra laughed. “Mr. Tanner has a cast iron stomach, as is proven by those.” He pointed to the mason jar by Vin’s empty plate, which held half a dozen different types of dried chilies. “Anyone who would _choose_ to subject their palate to such culinary attacks will surely not notice a little thing like food poisoning.”

Vin grinned at Ezra and teased, “I _like_ a good slow burn. Keeps a feller on his toes an' lets him know he's alive.”

Chris snickered at that while Josiah chuckled and shook his head, amused.

Ezra smirked at Vin, and Nathan noticed suddenly that Ezra’s eyes changed expression while he was looking at Vin, the slight wariness that was in them when he looked at Nathan replaced by warm affection. Nathan blinked, completely missing what Ezra was saying as he looked quickly at Vin and found an answering warmth in Vin’s sparkling blue eyes.

Nathan sat back suddenly and looked down at his coffee, brow furrowed. Vin and Ezra were close and had been for years, but Vin usually only looked at Chris like that. Seeing that warm affection directed at Ezra seemed wrong to Nathan, even though he knew it could be simple friendship. He lifted his gaze to look at Ezra, intending to try to figure out how deep their feelings went for each other, and found everyone looking at him.

“Nathan, just ask,” Ezra said after a moment, calm and serious with that wary look back in his expressive green eyes. “Before you give yourself a headache brooding over whatever it is I’ve done to bother you so.”

“Are you sleepin’ with Vin?” Nathan blurted out, then his eyes widened a bit as what he’d said sunk in. That would actually make sense of everything, and as soon as he’d said it he was sure that was what seemed so wrong. He saw how shocked Ezra looked and added, “I know it ain’t none of my business, but I just keep gettin’ this feelin’ there’s somethin’ going on with you two.” He looked at Vin and his heart sank as he saw that Vin was sitting up a little straighter, his eyes unreadable and his expression closed despite his slight smile. He’d seen Vin look at people like that before and knew it meant Vin was wary as all hell and not pleased even a little bit. “No offense meant, Vin,” he said quickly then, “an’ if I’m wrong just say so an’ I’ll drop it.”

Vin opened his mouth to speak just as Ezra reached over to rest his hand on Vin’s forearm. Vin closed his mouth and looked quickly at Ezra, who murmured, “Let me.”

Vin looked at Ezra a moment and then nodded, settling back in his chair again. “Whatever you want, Ez.”

Ezra smiled at Vin and then turned his attention to Nathan, and the wariness came back just that fast, making Nathan feel like a heel. “And if I am, Mr. Jackson? What would your reaction be?”

Nathan frowned and carefully didn’t look at Chris. “Well, I’d have to wonder why Chris hasn’t put a stop to it.”

Ezra blinked. “What exactly makes you think that he would care?”

Nathan snorted. “Ezra, don’t play dumb with me. They’ve been sleepin’ together most of a year. I’m sure you know, hard as ever’ one – includin’ you -- has been workin' at tryin’ to keep me from figurin’ it out.”

Chris laughed, eyes sparkling. “News to me.”

Nathan looked at Chris, surprised and annoyed that Chris would lie to him. “You really goin’ to tell me you two haven’t been screwin’ around _at least_ since before Peso got shot? ‘Cause I never saw you cry for anyone else I told you was gonna be fine, Chris, and I sure as hell don’t know anyone else you’d be tellin’ _Peso_ you wouldn’t live without.”

Chris’ grin disappeared and his eyes narrowed, going grey as stone and just as cold. “I didn’t think anyone was around then, Nathan. I had asked to be left alone.”

Nathan shrugged. “I went out to tell you lunch was ready, but after I heard that I figured you were too tore up to eat an’ I left you alone.”

“Why is it ever’ one knew before me?” Vin asked suddenly, and when Nathan looked at him he saw that Vin was amused but a little indignant, too. “I mean, hell, even my damned horse knew, an' I was sleepin’ in the barn for no reason most of the last year.”

Nathan blinked, his annoyance fading into shock. “You mean you two really _haven’t_ been sleepin’ together?”

Vin snickered. “We are _now_ , but it hasn’t been near as long as ever’ body seems to think we shoulda been.” He looked at Chris, amused. “Is it me or you that’s so damned dumb?”

Nathan looked at Chris to see what his reaction was and nearly laughed at Chris’ surprised consternation.

“Personally,” Ezra said suddenly, sounding dry and amused, and Nathan looked over at him as Ezra went on. “I think you were both waiting for an engraved invitation.” He smirked at Vin. “That or the right rainstorm.”

Vin laughed and actually _blushed_ , which Nathan hadn’t ever seen him do unless a lady was praising him. “You’re one to talk, Ezra.”

Ezra’s smirk didn’t slip even a little bit. “I have a rather better excuse for hesitating. _I_ knew you were both already very taken.” He laughed slightly. “Long before either of you noticed it yourselves, in fact.”

Nathan’s eyebrows rose. “You mean I was _right_?”

Ezra looked at Nathan, amused. “You are a rather perceptive man, Mr. Jackson. I should know by now not to underestimate your powers of observance.”

Nathan stared at Ezra a moment and then looked at Chris. “An’ you haven’t put a stop to it?”

Chris laughed, and just that quickly his eyes were grey-green and sparkling again. “Now why would I want to go an' do a stupid thing like that?”

Nathan blinked and tried to process that, mind whirling, then his eyes widened as Ezra’s casual certainty he could order Chris around sank in. He looked from Chris to Ezra and then Vin and back again. “All _three_ of you?”

Josiah chuckled. “Having multiple partners in a committed relationship is considered to be perfectly normal by many cultures around the world, my friend.” He smiled at Nathan, amused. “Including many tribes who live upon our own native soil, who believe it is a man’s right to have as many spouses as he can support.” He grinned suddenly. “Though which of these three does the supporting is likely open to debate.”

Nathan looked sharply at Josiah. “A man and more’n one woman may be common enough, but not three _men_ , Josiah. Even two’s enough to get ‘em killed if word gets out.”

“You might be surprised, Nathan. The _berdache_ tradition involves a man being free to marry another, and is common among many tribes,” Josiah said reasonably, smiling. “As for word getting out, that’s not likely.” He raised an eyebrow. “Unless you’re plannin’ to tell someone?”

“Of course not!” Nathan scowled at Josiah, angry he’d even suggest such a thing. “They’re my brothers, Josiah, I ain’t gonna get ’em killed! I figure it ain’t my place to tell anyone who they can sleep with, not when they’re grown men an’ they ain’t hurtin’ no one.”

“Thank you.” Nathan looked at Ezra quickly and Ezra gave him a warm smile as he added, “It’s a relief to know you are so rational and tolerant on the subject, Nathan. Most are not, and I would prefer not to lose family over something I cannot change.”

Nathan snorted. “If Chris and Vin have decided they want you around, Ezra, my opinion ain’t about to change that. They’re both stubborn as a six-up hitch of mules, and harder to push around.”

“I was referring to you, Nathan, and to our other brothers in arms,” Ezra pointed out gently, smiling still. “I know that no one can change how Chris and Vin feel towards me. They _are_ rather loyal once they give their affections, as you so colorfully pointed out.”

“Damn right,” Chris said firmly, grinning at Ezra.

“You’re stuck with us, bad cookin’ and all,” Vin added, smirking.

Chris laughed and threw a piece of biscuit at Vin. “At least I’m not a thief!”

Vin smirked a little wider and shifted in his chair, getting more comfortable. “You said what’s yours is mine.”

“I meant the ranch,” Chris said, amused. “Not my favorite shirt.”

Vin just grinned and sipped his coffee, and Ezra chuckled. “Chris, surely you have figured out why he steals your shirts by now?”

Chris looked at Ezra, surprised but grinning. “Do share, Ez.”

Ezra smirked at Chris and then looked at Vin, green eyes warm and amused. “I rather expect our dear Vin enjoys the fact it smells like you, Chris.”

Vin blinked and then blushed suddenly from his hairline well down his throat, looking away in embarrassment.

Josiah chuckled as Nathan snickered and looked back at Chris. “Goin’ by his reaction, I gotta agree.”

Chris just looked at Vin a moment, smirking, then said quietly, “I guess I can live with that.”

Vin looked quickly at Chris, searching Chris’ face for something for a moment before he gave Chris a sweet little smile. “I’ll change before we start workin’.”

“It’s just a shirt,” Chris said, still smirking. “Wear it if you want, Vin.”

“Alright.” Vin smiled a little wider and looked down, sipping at his coffee again while Ezra chuckled softly.

Nathan looked from Vin to Chris, who was still looking at Vin as though Vin were a steak and he hadn’t eaten in a week, and then he chuckled slightly and shook his head. He had no idea how anyone could miss the way those two felt for each other.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Chris glanced at Nathan when he chuckled, looking at him a moment before he spoke. “I gotta say I’m surprised you’re takin’ this so well, Nathan. I didn’t expect you’d approve even a little.”

Nathan looked at Chris, smiling crookedly. “I learned young that love makes a body do things they’d never do otherwise, Chris. I can’t say I understand wantin’ another man, but I _can_ understand you an’ Vin meanin’ too much to each other for anything else to matter. I figured out a long time ago that y’all need each other like you need air to breathe, and I reckon it’s none of my concern what you folks do when I ain’t around.” He looked over at Ezra suddenly and grinned. “Even if that is Ezra.”

Ezra laughed and blushed again, standing up to begin gathering the plates on the table. “Vin, would you assist me with the dishes?”

“Sure, Ez.” Vin jumped up quickly, obviously glad to have an excuse to get out of the conversation. He grabbed the two empty iron skillets and moved around Ezra to the sink, putting the skillets down to block the drain and then priming the pump with the can of water always left by the sink for just that purpose. Ezra joined him with the plates a moment later and then began deftly rolling up his sleeves while Vin worked the pitcher pump, steadily filling the sink.

“You want to go get started?” Josiah asked then, drawing Chris’ attention away from enjoying how Vin and Ezra looked together.

“Might as well,” Chris agreed, nodding. “Tools are in the room we’ll be workin’ on. I’ll be along as soon as I get my boots on.”

Josiah smiled and stood. “We startin’ with that window?”

“That was my plan.” Chris grinned and stood. “Ezra keeps complainin’ about the damned squirrel, and that’s how it gets in, I think. The oilcloth we tacked over the hole blew loose on one corner.”

“No, it’s not,” Vin said, laughing as he turned away from the sink while he rolled up his sleeves. “The squirrel comes and goes through the breezeway. That’s why it bugged hell out of him last weekend, it was goin’ back and forth right above his bed.”

“Infuriating rodent,” Ezra muttered, reaching for the homemade yucca fiber brush on a narrow shelf over the sink and then beginning to scrub one of the dirty plates with rather more force than necessary. “We need a cat.”

Vin snickered and looked at Ezra, teasing, “You want a pest to chase a pest?”

Ezra looked at Vin and seemed to think about it a moment, then chuckled. “Perhaps not, but a dog would do no good.”

Vin smirked. “Squirrel’s pretty good eatin’, though. I’ll kill it if you’ll cook it.”

“You have a deal,” Ezra agreed quickly, returning the smirk. “If you shoot the fluffy little tree rat I will be more than happy to make you a pot of squirrel stew.”

Chris heard the front door close and looked away from Ezra and Vin, then chuckled softly when he saw that Josiah and Nathan had already headed outside. He went to get his boots and then carried them towards his room to go get some socks, leaving the dishes to Vin and Ezra.

The way those two talked and flirted when they got half a chance, Chris knew they’d be a while. He didn’t mind, though. They both needed the chance to really relax, and that wasn’t something either of them felt safe to do in the presence of others, even their friends. Vin needed the contact Ezra was sure to let him indulge in once they were alone at least as much as Ezra needed to know someone cared so deeply and selflessly for him. Ezra had spent much of his life unsure of his place even in his own mother’s heart, and it had left scars that Ezra’s failed past relationships had only added to. Ezra found it easy to convince himself that no one could truly care for him as much as they seemed to, but Vin had a real knack for knowing when Ezra’s doubts reared their ugly heads.

Chris smiled to himself, sitting on their bed with his boots and a pair of socks out of the basket by the door. Ezra wasn’t the only one Vin kept so deftly from the edge of the abyss, though. Vin had dragged Chris out of his own personal Hell more than once, and always knew just how to give Chris a reason to go on when Chris was sure he couldn’t stand to live one more day. He had done so well at it, in fact, that Chris couldn’t even imagine wanting to die anymore.

He had much too much to live for.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

 

Ezra had just put the last of the dishes on a shelf when suddenly Vin was behind him, sliding his arms around Ezra’s waist and nuzzling behind his ear. Ezra leaned back with a low hum, smiling and tilting his head to give Vin better access as he stroked Vin’s forearms.

The others were already hard at work and he and Vin could easily hear the pound of two hammers, likely Nathan and Josiah while Chris held the window in place. Chris had some experience with a hammer, but it paled in comparison to Nathan and Josiah’s skills. Those two had practically rebuilt the church in town from the rotted floorboards up to the shattered roof, including the careful fabrication and installation of the stained glass windows. Chris would be happy to let them both swing a hammer for him while he had an excuse to.

“They’ll be expectin’ us soon, Vin,” Ezra said quietly after a few minutes.

“I know,” Vin murmured, sounding amused. “Just wanted to hold you a minute before we go.”

Ezra chuckled softly and turned just enough to look at Vin, smiling when he saw the heat in Vin’s blue eyes. “That’s not all you wanted.”

Vin grinned. “I’ll settle for this, though.”

Ezra laughed and turned the rest of the way, lifting his arms to slide his fingers into Vin’s shaggy hair and wondering when he had found time to comb out the tangles. “And if I want more?”

Vin’s grin grew a bit wicked. “I reckon it could be arranged.”

“Arrange away,” Ezra said, smirking as he leaned in for a kiss.

Vin chuckled as their lips met but the amusement trailed off quickly into a pleased purr as he deepened the kiss, tilting his head for a better angle. Ezra hummed and sucked on Vin’s tongue and Vin didn’t hold back even a little as he responded, letting Ezra feel just how much Vin wanted him.

Ezra was breathless by the time they finally ended the kiss, and he just stared into Vin’s vivid blue eyes for what seemed like forever before he finally murmured, “I missed you earlier.”

Vin smiled, pleased. “I’ll make it up to you.” He kissed Ezra again, soft and sweet, then murmured, “I’d haul you off to bed now if I didn’t know how thin the walls are.”

Ezra chuckled slightly and agreed, “Nathan would be traumatized. Knowing about us and _hearing_ us are two very different things.”

Vin snickered and nodded. “I reckon it’d be more ‘n he could take, at that.” He grinned and teased, “Josiah might like listenin’ in, though. He thinks you’re awful pretty.”

“Josiah is going blind in his dotage,” Ezra said with a soft laugh.

Vin’s grin widened. “I dunno, you are awful nice to look at, Ez, ‘specially once a body gets you out of all them clothes. I’d say ‘beautiful’, myself.”

Ezra felt his face heating up and he gave Vin’s hair a tug. “Now you’re just teasing me, Mr. Tanner.”

“The way Chris was starin’ once we finally got you naked, I know he’d back me up,” Vin teased, still grinning. “An' after all we did last night, don’t you think you can drop the ‘Mr. Tanner’ bit?”

Ezra laughed, his face still hot even though he was pleased. “I suppose, if it will make you happy.”

Vin smirked. “It would.” He kissed Ezra again, slow and deep, and then pulled away. “Come on, the quicker we get busy, the sooner we get done.”

Ezra laughed and made no move to follow Vin towards the door of the third bedroom, where the sound of hammers had stopped again. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Vin stopped, looking at Ezra in surprise. “Like what?”

Ezra pointed at his feet, amused. “Your boots, for one.”

Vin blinked and laughed. “Might help, yeah.” He turned and headed for the bedroom, giving Ezra an impish little grin. “Wanna come help me find some socks?”

Ezra laughed. “I rather think that would be a mistake.” He started towards the door to the bedroom that would nominally be Vin’s room, but would in practice be a place for their friends to stay when they didn’t feel like the ride back to town. “I doubt either of us would behave so close to a bed.”

“I know, that was the idea,” Vin said good-naturedly, continuing into the bedroom.

Ezra chuckled and shook his head, opening the door to the bedroom they were to work on for the day only to stop, bemused. The back door – which had been held up by nails until the hinges were bought – had been taken down and Seeker was standing there, leaning inside to watch interestedly while Josiah and Chris wrestled the second window into place. Josiah had stripped down to his undershirt and as always Ezra marveled a bit at the man’s physique, wondering where he found the time to stay in such impressive condition. Josiah might seem harmless at first glance in one of those shapeless serapes he so often wore, but he was strong as a bear.

Nathan was outside the window, shimming it tightly with thin scraps of wood he tapped into place with a hammer. “That ought to do it,” Nathan called as he tapped the last one in and snapped it off, grinning. “She’s in there good and solid now.”

“Get busy with that hammer, then,” Chris said, grinning. “It won’t nail itself down.”

Nathan laughed, digging in his pocket for a nail. “You could get busy too, y’know.”

Chris grinned a little wider. “Josiah’s got the other hammer.”

Nathan began nailing the window frame in as Josiah chuckled and bent to get a handful of nails from the small box in the floor nearby. “And I wonder who gave it to me?”

Ezra laughed. “Chris, no doubt.”

Josiah grinned at Ezra. “Got it in one.”

“What about the one Vin bought yesterday?” Ezra asked Josiah with a grin, green eyes twinkling. “He talked Yosemite out of an old rounding hammer when he picked up the hardware Yosemite forged for the door.”

Chris laughed and turned to look at Ezra. “Don’t go tellin’ them that! I’ll have to get busy.”

“That was the general idea,” Ezra said, smirking. He moved to sit on a crate and lean back comfortably against the wall as he added helpfully, “I believe he put it under the wagon seat.”

“I did!” Vin called from the next room, laughing. “It’s wrapped in a piece of hide with the hinges and the door latch.”

Josiah smirked at Chris and offered him the hammer and nails he was holding. “I’ll go get the other one and start putting hinges on the door.”

“Yeah, yeah, go on,” Chris grumbled good-naturedly, taking the hammer and nails. “I knew it wouldn’t last long.”

Josiah chuckled and patted Chris’ shoulder. “Many hands make light work, my friend.”

Vin came out of the other room then, smirking and looking pleased with himself as he stopped by Ezra and buckled his gunbelt. “And since that’s the only other hammer, I guess I’ll have to go work on markin’ the fence line.”

“Oh hell no!” Chris exclaimed, laughing. “Goin’ for a walk ain’t work!”

Vin grinned. “I was thinkin’ more along the lines of a ride, really. Pony won’t mind givin’ me an’ Ezra a lift, and it ain’t like Ez is gonna do anything but watch anyhow.”

Josiah laughed. “Something tells me the fence won’t make much progress.” He gave Vin and Ezra a knowing look that made Ezra’s face heat up as Josiah chuckled and headed for the back door.

“It’s tellin’ me the same thing, Josiah,” Chris agreed, bemused.

Nathan snickered and opened the window, leaning inside. “They aren’t gonna be worth a damn here wishin’ they were somewhere else anyway. Let ’em go. At least then they won’t be distractin’ you ever’ time you turn around.”

Josiah laughed again and called from outside, “Listen to brother Nathan’s wisdom, Chris.”

Chris snorted and looked at Vin and Ezra a moment before he laughed. “Ah, hell, get out of here.”

Vin grinned and glanced at Ezra, already moving back towards the front of the cabin. “C’mon, before he changes his mind.”

Ezra laughed and stood, trying to ignore how warm his face was. “I assure you that he _will_ work on marking fence line.” He grinned impishly. “At least part of the day.” He followed Vin then, pretending he didn’t hear the other three men laughing at him.

Going for a ride with Vin sounded a lot better than sitting in the cabin watching the others work all day.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Vin sprawled in the shade, his hat over his eyes and a smug smile on his face. He could just barely hear the muffled staccato thwack of three hammers over the breeze, and he couldn’t think of any better way to spend his morning.

Riding double bareback had been nice, something Vin hadn’t gotten to do in years, but the way Ezra had relaxed and enjoyed himself was what had really made the morning for Vin. When they headed out Ezra was wary, looking all around and watching the trails at either end of the meadow like a hawk, careful not to do more than rest his hands on Vin’s waist as if he thought they might be caught. As they rode quietly along the treeline on Pony, though, Ezra had slowly relaxed.

By the time they finished marking a fence line for three sides of the pasture, Ezra wasn’t scanning the trail like he was afraid Mary Travis would appear at the head of a posse anymore. Vin hadn’t had any trouble persuading Ezra to take a break in a clearing along the creek where it was cooler, well out of sight of the cabin and both trails, though they could see the meadow where Peso and Chaucer had come up to graze near them with Pony.

Vin tilted his head to look to the side, where Ezra was leaning back against an oak tree a few feet away. There was a familiar heat in Ezra’s green eyes and he was watching Vin with a little smirk that made Vin grin. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“I was just wishing that the swimming hole wasn’t so close to the cabin,” Ezra replied, smirking a bit wider. “It’s hot enough that a swim would be welcome about now.”

Vin moved his hand to tip his hat back a bit so he could see Ezra better, grinning wickedly. Ezra liked the water near as much as he did, though Ezra hadn’t gotten the chance to indulge in just going for a swim nearly so often as Vin did. “There’s a tank up the ridge, just below the spring that feeds the creek. It’s not but a few feet deep, but it’s shady and big enough for us to both cool off.”

Ezra grinned. “And just how far is this tank?”

“Half hour’s ride, up that way.” Vin pointed towards the ridge behind the cabin without bothering to look that direction, his gaze never leaving Ezra’s pale green eyes. “If we ride double on Pony, that is. There’s no trail an’ he don’t much like the rocks up that way.”

“And if we ride our own horses?” Ezra asked, stretching out his legs with that wicked little smirk on his lips again.

Vin rolled over and moved to kneel astride Ezra’s knees, grinning at him. “Chaucer’s surefooted as any, and Peso’s part goat. They can make it in half that, if you can stay on Chaucer bareback.”

Ezra smirked and reached up to tangle his fingers in Vin’s hair on either side of his neck. “I can ride anything with hair, I assure you.” He tugged Vin closer as he added, “Except Peso, of course.”

Vin laughed and let himself be pulled down for a kiss, moving closer to Ezra.

If they were going to have another bath, they might as well work up a sweat first.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Chris heard a rattle of shifting rocks and looked up from the board he had just cut, bemused to see Vin and Ezra riding towards him. They were on the rocky hill behind the cabin and seemed to be racing their horses down it even though they were riding without any kind of tack, leaning back with just handfuls of mane to hold onto while their mounts barreled down the rocky hill in a flurry of dislodged rocks.

Peso was a bit in the lead, ears up and head held high as he leapt and slid over rocks and bushes, giving every appearance of having the time of his life, just like his rider. Vin’s hat was hanging back on the stampede string and he was grinning like a lunatic, just letting Peso run. Chaucer was much too close to Peso’s hip for safety, his ears pinned as he tried to catch the leaping black gelding with some prodigious leaps of his own, and Ezra was grinning almost as wide as Vin.

“Good Lord!” Josiah exclaimed.

“They’re gonna get themselves killed!” Nathan added, sounding shocked and angry. “What the hell they think they’re doing?”

“Riding, I’d imagine,” Chris said dryly, glancing over his shoulder at where Josiah and Nathan were standing in the back doorway of the cabin. Josiah looked like he couldn’t decide whether to grin or pray, but Nathan was pissed and Chris knew Vin and Ezra would be getting a lecture.

Chris looked back up at the hill, unable to keep from grinning as he watched Chaucer finally pass Peso. The bay flagged his tail as soon as he was in the lead and then a moment later he hit flat ground and bolted towards the barn with Ezra leaning low over his neck and clinging to him like a burr. Peso was hot on their heels with his ears pinned as he tried to catch Chaucer, his own rider half hidden by his whipping mane.

“You’re lucky you didn’t ruin them horses!” Nathan called to Ezra and Vin as they passed closest to the cabin, still annoyed.

Peso finally caught up to Chaucer just as Vin lifted his head to look towards Nathan and then sat back to stop Peso, whistling a sharp rising note. Peso plunged into a series of stiff-legged bucks, obviously angry about being told to stop, while Chaucer whirled to canter back towards Vin without any cue from his rider. Chris snickered at Ezra’s surprised expression, thinking that it might have been a bad idea for Ezra to let Vin hear him call Chaucer so many times. Ezra might never be able to ride away again, what with Vin able to make the bay swap ends just by whistling at him.

“That is _cheating_ , Vin!” Ezra called, laughing and indignant. “We were winning!” Chaucer let Ezra stop him before they reached Vin and Peso, breathing hard and shining with a light sweat but looking pleased with himself. The bay obviously knew he had been winning, which suited his competitive nature to a tee.

Vin just laughed and held on while Peso leapt into the air again, and then the black mustang finally settled down and stood still, blowing hard with his ears pinned. “Nathan’s worried ‘bout the horses,” Vin said, grinning as he patted Peso’s shoulder and turned him towards the back of the cabin. “I wanted to let him see they’re just fine ‘fore we turn ‘em loose to sort it out amongst themselves.”

Ezra laughed and Chaucer moved to follow Vin and Peso without Ezra obviously telling him to, though Chris had no doubt Ezra had. Ezra had spectacular muscle control, as Chris had enjoyed finding out for himself, and Chaucer was impeccably trained. A twitch of Ezra’s thigh would be all it took to guide Chaucer without a saddle to mask the movement. “Nathan, do you _really_ think either of us would encourage our mounts to endanger themselves?”

Nathan snorted and walked down the steps, then moved over to stand by Chris. “I _thought_ you boys loved them horses, but now I ain’t so sure! One wrong step runnin’ ‘em down that hill and you’d have _all_ been dead, close as you was together.”

Vin gave Nathan a bemused look, stopping Peso a body-length away. “You got the wrong idea here. It wasn’t us sendin’ them down that hill hell bent for leather. It was them boltin’ an’ takin’ us along for the ride.”

Ezra chuckled and nodded as Chaucer stopped next to Peso, who immediately snapped at the bay irritably. Chaucer didn’t bother to sidestep away, instead returning the nip. “When we topped the hill, they both took off.”

“Then why was you two grinnin’ like you was havin’ the time of your lives?” Nathan asked, still frowning.

Vin gave Nathan one of those crinkly-eyed smiles of his. “Just ‘cause it wasn’t my idea, don’t mean it wasn’t fun.” He paused and then added, “And you saw how Peso just had a fit over me stopping him. There was no way I was gonna get him to give up once he was on the run in front of Chaucer. If I had tried he’d have started fightin’ me an’ killed us both, an’ likely tripped up Chaucer too, so I figured I might as well enjoy the ride.”

“And I reached the same decision,” Ezra agreed, nodding. “Chaucer is as light on his feet as any, but gravity and momentum were not on our side. He responds at once if I tell him to stop in mid-flight, but he could well have made a misstep on that hill when I distracted him. In this case one mistake would have been enough to get us all killed, so I refrained and enjoyed the ride.”

Josiah laughed and quoted, "He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."

Ezra looked at Josiah in surprise. “Epictetus, Josiah? I am impressed.”

Josiah grinned. “I’m just full of surprises, Ezra.”

“I hope you two learned something,” Chris said suddenly, amused but having grown tired of standing in the afternoon sun discussing something that had ended well and couldn’t be changed. It was obvious to him that the only smart thing to do once the horses were running down the hill was hold on and let them go. Trying to stop over a thousand pounds of horseflesh on any steep hill was dangerous, but add in all the rocks and the speed and it would have been suicide. Peso and Chaucer were both surefooted and used to rocky terrain, and it didn’t surprise Chris that they had made it down easily. 

Vin grinned at Chris. “Next time, we go around the hill on the way back too, instead of over.”

Ezra laughed and nodded. “And possibly bridle these two as well.” He swung his leg over Chaucer’s neck and slid to the ground neatly, patting the bay’s shoulder. “They do so love to race.”

Vin snickered, swinging down off of Peso. “Can’t stand it when either of ‘em takes the lead. They’d take off every time if we let ‘em.”

Ezra waited until Vin stepped away from Peso and then flicked his hand at Chaucer. “Go on.”

Chaucer whirled away and bolted, and Peso followed without waiting for Vin to tell him he could go, pinning his ears as he chased the bay.

Vin chuckled and moved to stand by Ezra, giving him an amused look. “Thanks for lettin’ me get clear first.”

Ezra grinned impishly. “You’re welcome.”

Chris chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “You two have done enough flirtin’ to last you a while. Why don’t you make us some lunch? We’re the ones have been workin’ all day.”

“Hey, we got some work done!” Vin protested, laughing. “We marked the fence line on three sides of the place. Now we just gotta decide where we want the fence on this end… Behind the cabin so we have to open a gate to get home ever’ night, or across in front to the barn so the horses can’t get to the house?”

“Along the front,” Chris said promptly, amused. “I’m tired of Pony roustin’ us out of bed at dawn.”

Josiah chuckled and turned to go back into the cabin. “Somehow I doubt a fence will stop that.”

“Yeah, I can’t see it bein’ that easy either,” Vin agreed. “Knowin’ Pony he’ll just learn to open the gate.”

Ezra started towards the back door of the cabin, looking amused. “Or jump over it. Appearances are deceiving with that one.”

Vin laughed and moved after Ezra. “You got a point there. I saw Chris put him over a five-rail fence once an' Pony didn’t even touch it.”

“I suspected he could do as much,” Ezra said, chuckling as he stepped up into the cabin. “It really is a shame such a fine horse was gelded. He would have been a fantastic sire.”

“He’s happier as he is,” Vin disgreed, following Ezra through the door. “Stallions wind up spendin’ all their time with the mares. Pony’d rather be with people.”

Chris couldn’t hear whatever reply Ezra gave Vin, and he glanced over at Nathan curiously, wondering why he was still out there. Nathan looked a little curious and confused, and when he saw Chris was looking at him he asked suddenly, “How is it you don’t mind that?”

Chris blinked. “They’re grown men. I’m not gonna tell either of them where they can and can’t ride.”

Nathan waved a hand, shaking his head. “I don’t mean that, Chris. I’m talkin’ about _them_. I heard enough of you talkin’ to Peso after he was shot to know what Vin means to you. How can you not mind him with Ezra?”

Chris smiled crookedly. “You’re forgettin’ that I’m with Ezra, too.”

“Still, how can you not be jealous, knowin’ they been foolin’ around?” Nathan asked, even more confused. “I’m not tryin’ to pry, I just want to understand.”

Chris tried not to think about the many times Buck had said the same thing, hoping Nathan would be quicker to just accept things and move on. “There’s nothin’ for me to be jealous of, Nathan. If I had wanted to go with them, I’d have been welcome.” He laughed softly. “Hell, they’d have been happy as a horse knee-deep in clover if I’d invited myself along. Vin’s always tellin’ me to have a little more fun, and Ezra’d try to move heaven and earth if he thought I wanted him to.”

Nathan seemed to think about that a few minutes and then finally just shook his head. “I could never do that. Just thinkin’ about Rain with anyone else makes me mad. I couldn’t watch it every day.”

“It’s different when you got feelings for both of them,” Chris said with a smile. “Trust me on that.” He patted Nathan’s shoulder and then turned away to pick up the board he had trimmed just before he heard the horses on the hill. He started towards the cabin with the board, which would go in an odd-sized space above the back door, hoping Nathan was willing to let it drop. He wasn’t nearly so good at explaining why seeing Vin and Ezra together made him feel _good_ as he’d like to be, likely because he didn’t understand it completely himself. He just knew it did and he was willing to accept it instead of poking at the idea too much.

Nathan followed Chris, sounding bemused. “Well, as long as it makes you three happy, I guess it don’t matter what anyone else would feel.”

Chris grinned, moving to one side once he was in the cabin so Nathan could come inside too and get back to finishing the interior walls. “Glad to hear that. I’m runnin’ out of ways to try to explain it.”

Josiah chuckled and looked over from where he was nailing up the last board on the inside wall. “Just think of it this way, Nathan. Chris and Vin need each other like they need air to breathe, but they _want_ Ezra with them.”

Chris shook his head. “You’re close, Josiah, but not quite there. It _started_ with us just wantin’ him with us, yeah, but that didn’t take long to change. We need him now, near as much as he needs us.”

“An’ how does that compare to how you feel about Vin?” Nathan asked, curious.

Chris glanced at the closed door between them and the rest of the cabin, then looked at Nathan a long moment before he said softly, “Vin’s the best part of my soul, Nathan. I care a hell of a lot about Ezra, we both do, but there wouldn’t be much left of me without Vin an’ Ezra knows that. Vin's been the reason I climbed out of bed damn near since I met him, an’ that’s not gonna change in a day.”

Nathan blinked. “In a day?”

Chris smirked slightly. “We just got through to Ezra last night. He’s been stubborn as a mule about refusin’ to step between us, but he finally figured out that’s where he belongs.”

“He’s a lucky man,” Josiah said quietly, smiling at Chris.

Chris shook his head. “No, we are. He had every reason not to trust us, but he does even though it scares him to death.” He looked at Nathan and added firmly, “And we’re gonna take care of him.”

“I get you,” Nathan said, looking bemused. “I’ll keep my nose out of it.”

Chris smiled. “Thanks, Nathan.” He turned to retrieve his hammer and a few nails while Josiah and Nathan both went back to work as well.

The way they were going, the cabin would be finished before too much longer. Josiah and Nathan were both skilled at carpentry and they made short work of jobs that would have taken Chris or Vin at least twice as long to do. Both windows were installed, and the back door was hung, and the interior walls were going up fast. The back wall and the side towards Ezra’s room were finished, and Nathan and Josiah were already started on the other outside wall.

After that all they had left to do was the ceiling and the two sets of bunk beds planned for opposite corners of the room, and Chris and Vin could easily handle building the bunk beds later. It wasn’t like they were going to be needed in the next few days. Josiah couldn’t stay because he had a dance to call later and then a church service to worry about the next morning, and Nathan seldom slept far from his clinic.

 

~*~*~*~

 

After lunch they all decided that it was so hot in the cabin that a break was in order, and it wasn’t long before they were all sitting in the shade on the porch, enjoying the breeze and talking. Ezra had claimed one chair and Josiah had claimed the other, which left it for the other three to either carry a chair or crate out of the house or pull up a seat on the porch. Carrying chairs outside only to have to put them back later sounded too much like work to Chris and Nathan, so that idea was quickly dismissed. Vin hadn’t considered it to begin with, perfectly happy sitting in on the porch instead of a chair.

Nathan had settled on the edge of the porch leaning back against one of the posts, and it really didn’t surprise him much when Chris had settled back against the front of the cabin next to Vin. They weren’t doing anything they hadn’t done a thousand times before in front of him, just sitting close together with Vin’s right side touching Chris’ left, but it seemed more important than it used to. They had always been close, but they hadn’t been quite like they were now. He’d been sure that they were lovers long before he knew it for a fact, but seeing them together that day had made it easier to believe he had been wrong most of the last year.

Vin was sitting in his usual easy sprawl next to Ezra's chair, left foot propped up with his hand on that knee and the opposite shoulder pressed against Chris as he watched the horses graze, smiling. Chris was next to him in a similar posture, but he was spending most of his time watching Vin watch the horses, his dark green eyes gentle and warm. Vin seemed to feel Chris’ gaze and looked at him after a moment, and the sweet loving smile Vin gave Chris drew an answering smile just as full of love.

Nathan suddenly felt like an intruder, seeing something that was private and intimate and really none of his business. He looked away towards Josiah and Ezra, who were talking cheerfully. It took him a moment to figure out what they were discussing, but when he did he had to laugh.

Josiah looked over at Nathan with a grin, blue eyes twinkling. “What are you laughing at, brother Nathan?”

“You an’ Ezra discussin’ kitchen cabinets, like either of you knows anything about ‘em,” Nathan replied quickly, grinning. “I bet you haven’t spent five hours in a kitchen in the last month between the two of you.”

Ezra laughed and gave Nathan an amused look. “My dear friend, how else does one cook, if not by spendin’ time in a kitchen?”

Josiah smirked. “It’s safe to say hoping for divine intervention doesn’t work well.”

Vin snickered, looking at Nathan. “Just who do you think has been doin’ the cookin’ around here? Ez won’t hardly let us touch the food when he’s around, an’ we eat in town with him most of the time when he ain't here.”

Josiah was snickering as Ezra glanced down at Vin, smirking, and said, “At least I cook something different every time.”

Vin grinned up at Ezra. “An’ I’m mighty grateful, too. Chris’ found stew was gettin’ plumb old. There’s only so many ways you can stew meat with onions an’ potatoes before you never want to see either one again.”

Chris laughed and elbowed Vin. “Like your cookin’ is any better! You’d have us eatin’ meat an’ beans until a body wanted to run the other way when someone mentions ‘em.”

Vin snickered, nodding. “I know. I might be the one cookin’ ‘em, but most times I don’t want none either.”

Ezra laughed, reaching down to ruffle Vin’s hair. “The world is safer if you refrain from cooking.” Vin looked up at him, grinning, just as Ezra added with a smirk, “Both of you.”

Chris laughed again. “Hey!”

“Is in the barn,” Ezra replied promptly, still smirking. “Yosemite’s mares would likely enjoy some, now that you mention it. They’ve been without any for a few hours now.”

Josiah chuckled and stood, stretching. “Much as I might like to stay, I would never hear the end of it.” He rolled his eyes, looking tolerant but a little exasperated. “Mary served me notice at dawn that I’d best be back in town by three.”

Ezra reached for his pocket to check his watch and then laughed. “Somehow I think you won’t be making it, Josiah.”

Josiah grinned at him. “Past three, hmm?”

“Five minutes past,” Ezra agreed, smirking. “By the time you get to town, I expect she’ll have worked up quite a head of steam.”

“She likely would over something,” Josiah said as he headed into the cabin to get his coat and his hat. “Might as well give her a reason.”

Vin snickered and called through the open door, “Chris has been tryin’ that tactic, Josiah. It don’t work so well.”

Nathan snickered, standing up. “I might as well ride on back too, keep Josiah company. We’ll see y’all later.”

“Monday,” Chris said, smirking.

Josiah came back out of the cabin with his coat and hat on, carrying Nathan’s things and grinning. He stopped near Nathan, handing over his coat and hat as he looked at Ezra. “I thought you were comin’ back for the races after the church social tomorrow?”

Ezra grinned at Josiah and stood. “I got a better offer.” He looked down at Chris and Vin, a wicked twinkle in his green eyes. “Speaking of, I will be down by the pond. It’s _much_ cooler there and a swim followed by a nap in the shade sounds just the thing right now.” He didn’t wait for an answer, heading into the cabin.

Chris grinned widely, looking at Vin. “Does he have gills I haven’t noticed yet?”

Vin snickered. “If he does, I ain’t found ‘em either. Sure does swim like he’s part fish, though.”

Josiah laughed and headed towards the corral. “See you soon, friends.”

“Ride safe, Josiah,” Vin replied immediately, grinning.

“Always, brother,” Josiah replied cheerfully, then whistled long and shrill.

Nathan glanced towards the horses just as Seeker threw up his head far down the pasture and broke into a gallop, heading for his rider. He looked back at Chris and Vin just as Vin, who had stood up, offered Chris his hand. “Enjoy your time off,” Nathan said, smiling.

Vin grinned cheerfully at Nathan as he hauled Chris to his feet. “Count on it, doc.”

Chris chuckled and nodded, standing very close to Vin as he added, “More fun than you’ll be havin’.”

Nathan snorted. “I don’t doubt that. Mary’s sure to rope me into something as soon as she sees me.” He lifted one hand in a wave. “I’ll let Inez and Mrs. Potter know not to be expectin’ Ezra tomorrow.”

Ezra stepped back out of the cabin, looking surprised and wearing just his trousers and shirt, his vest and jacket already discarded. “Gloria’s expectin’ me?”

Nathan nodded. “I dunno why though, so don’t bother askin’. Mary just mentioned it when she told Josiah to be hurrying it along this mornin’. She was headed to breakfast when me an’ Josiah were walkin’ to the saloon to see if we could talk Colette into makin’ breakfast.”

“Huh.” Ezra stood there a moment and then laughed softly, bemused. “Make my apologies to her, would you please? I have no clue what she planned, but whatever it was, she forgot to tell me. I was simply coming back to make a little money on the races.” He grinned impishly. “Danny Calhoun is going to run Blue, and the odds are sure to be good. She doesn’t look nearly so fast as she is.”

Vin laughed. “I hope Danny has money to bet.”

Ezra smirked at Vin. “Two dollars. I gave it to him Thursday, after he brought in that steer I won from Rawlins. I tried to give him five, but he wouldn’t accept it.”

Chris snorted, grinning as he casually draped an arm around Vin to lean against him. “Hell, I’m surprised you got him to take two.”

“He needed a dollar to enter the race,” Ezra said, grinning. “He took the other dollar because I told him I’d make so much betting on him.” He brightened suddenly and looked at Nathan. “Would you place a wager or two for me, Nathan?”

Nathan laughed and nodded. “You gonna have to get me the money, though. I’ve only got a few dollars an’ I’m not about to throw ‘em away bettin’.”

Ezra grinned. “I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the cabin and was back only a moment later with a wad of cash that would choke a horse. He started counting off bills as he walked towards Nathan, not bothering to watch where he was going.

“Ezra, you still carryin’ all of that in your boot?” Vin asked, laughing as he stood there leaning against Chris’ side, his arm around Chris’ waist. “Ain’t you ever going to trust the bank?”

“Not exactly.” Ezra snorted, amused. “And if it goes six months without being held up, I will consider it.”

Chris snickered. “Hell, even with us around that ain’t likely. You’d be better off hidin’ it here.”

Ezra looked amused. “Which is what I had done.” He looked back at Nathan, handing him a handful of bills. “I’d like twenty on Blue. If you’ll bet the rest however you like, we can split any profits.” He grinned. “And if you’d rather not, just pass it over to Bucklin. He’ll be only too happy to bet on the races with someone else’s money.”

Nathan glanced at the money and then at Ezra, his eyes wide. “There’s more than a hundred dollars here, Ezra!”

“There had better be,” Ezra said, amused. “I’d hate the think I couldn’t count to one-twenty.” He reached out and patted Nathan’s shoulder. “Like I said, pass it on to Buck if it makes you uncomfortable. Gamblin’ on horses with my money’s one of his favorite pastimes.” He grinned and headed back into the cabin, adding, “Lucky for him, he has an eye for horseflesh almost as good as Vin’s. I’ve never lost money bankrolling him yet, and he does so love to pick a winner.”

Chris laughed. “See you later, Nathan.” He gave Vin a squeeze and then let go to head into the cabin after Ezra, teasing as he went, “Y’know, Ez, hidin’ your money here an’ not tellin’ us is only a good thing if you can come get it when you want it.”

Vin snickered, nodding towards the meadow. “Josiah’s got Foxy for you.”

Nathan turned his head to look, surprised, and saw Josiah kneeling about halfway down the pasture between Seeker and Foxy, who had a rope around her neck and was snubbed in close to Seeker’s shoulder. “Looks like he does at that.” He looked back at Vin, bemused. “I’d best be goin’, then.” He nodded to Vin. “See you.”

Vin grinned. “Ride safe.” He turned away and headed into the cabin, already reaching up to unbutton his shirt.

Nathan was feeling bemused as he started towards the corral, putting Ezra’s money in his shirt pocket and then shrugging into his coat as he went. Even as circumspect as Chris, Vin, and Ezra were, it seemed like the tiniest gesture stood out now, hinting at how much more there was between them.

Nathan was glad to see his friends so happy, of course, but seeing them together sure was going to take some getting used to. He’d seen Chris drape an arm around Vin a hundred times if he’d seen it once, starting way back just a few days after he met them, but seeing it now he could see that the relationship there was definitely different. A man might lean on a friend – Nathan had even done that himself – and it not mean anything, but the way Vin had leaned against Chris’ side with his arm around Chris and his hand resting so casually on Chris’ hip had said volumes. A man might let a friend lean on him, sure, but they didn't hold on to them like that, not if they were just friends.

It wasn’t that Nathan didn’t like seeing it so much as it was that it made him feel kind of like he _shouldn’t_ see it. If there was one thing Nathan figured Chris, Vin, and Ezra all had in common, it was the fact they were all very private men. They didn’t casually share their feelings with others, but their relationship seemed to rip down all of their carefully built walls. Nathan had learned more about their true feelings in one day than he had learned in the year before that, and it left him feeling unsettled.

Nathan had literally stripped each of them naked at one point or another, and he had never felt so much like he was intruding as he did when he saw the way Chris’ grey-green eyes went all warm and gentle when he looked into Vin or Ezra’s eyes.

 

~*~*~*~

 

Josiah was feeling pretty cheerful as he let Seeker pick his way through the gravel and shale that covered the trail. Nathan was about twenty feet ahead of them on Foxy, urging the mare to keep moving even though Foxy didn’t like the footing and kept hesitating. There had been another slide while they were at the ranch, probably caused by an animal crossing the shale slope above the trail, and the rocks that had been dislodged hadn’t settled much at all yet, making the footing worse than usual.

Josiah realized Nathan was looking down at the trail instead of watching what was ahead of him, and called, “Watch out for that big rock, Nathan. Foxy’s not likely to go over for you, the way she's actin' today.”

Nathan looked up quickly and spotted the small boulder about ten feet ahead of Foxy, then glanced back at Josiah. “Thanks.” He looked ahead again, guiding Foxy around the rock as he added, “That’s sure gonna make it tough for Vin to get the wagon by. It’s big enough to break an axle.”

Josiah chuckled as he heeled Seeker towards the rock. “It would if it was still here Monday, for a fact.” He stopped Seeker by the irregularly shaped boulder and dismounted, amused. “Since it won’t be, they won’t need to worry about it.”

Nathan stopped Foxy and turned her to watch, looking bemused. “That a big rock, Josiah. You’re gonna pull somethin’ if you ain’t careful.”

Josiah grinned at Nathan. “So I’ll be careful.” He bent to give the rock an experimental pull, judging the weight, and then crouched and worked his fingers well under the sides of the stone, taking a slow deep breath and then lifting smoothly with his legs. “Not as heavy as it looks. Must be sandstone.”

“That or you’re just strong as a bull,” Nathan said, laughing. “You couldn’t pay me to carry it. I’d pull ever muscle I got.”

“It’s not so bad,” Josiah said, grinning even though the rock seemed to be getting heavier every step he took. He had to move slow and careful with the rock because of the uneven footing and loose gravel, and by the time he reached the edge of the trail his arms were shaking with the strain. He took a few more steps and then heaved the rock away from him, smirking as it landed with a heavy crunch. “See? Didn’t take long.” He grinned at Nathan and then moved back to Seeker to climb into the saddle.

Nathan snorted and shook his head, turning Foxy to start her towards town again. “Lucky you didn’t have to carry it another five feet. You likely would have dropped it on your foot.”

Josiah chuckled, swinging up into the saddle even as he started Seeker forward again. “But I didn’t and that’s all that matters.”

Nathan laughed. “Got a point, there.”

Josiah just smiled and let Seeker follow Foxy through the rest of the gravel and shale, wondering what the terrain was like at the top of the ridge. It had to be pretty rough to make Chris and Vin choose to travel along the foot of a shale slope for the trail out to their place. They often rode cross-country for much of the rest of the way when they weren’t traveling with the wagon, but between the shale and their cabin they usually stuck to the trail despite the insecure footing.

Foxy and then Seeker left the rocky stretch and Josiah urged Seeker into a canter, passing Nathan for only a moment before Foxy caught up. Nathan grinned at Josiah, asking, “In a hurry to get there, Josiah?”

Josiah laughed. “Not really, but I’d rather not annoy Mary any more than I have to.” He grinned at Nathan. “I’m already going to be late enough to earn a lecture.”

Nathan snickered. “Mary’d lecture you even if you were on time, most likely.”

Josiah chuckled, tilting his head slightly. “True enough, brother.”

They were quiet for a few dozen strides and then Nathan suddenly spoke up again, quieter this time. “Josiah, why is it nobody wanted me to know ‘bout Chris an’ Vin?”

Josiah looked at Nathan, surprised. “You sure you want to know?”

Nathan nodded, and Josiah sighed as he looked ahead at the trail again, slowing Seeker so they would have more time to talk. Nathan reined Foxy in to wait for Seeker and Josiah, and then they walked their horses along side by side as Josiah went on.

“I can’t speak for them, Nathan, but for myself, I didn’t think you’d take it well. I remember how you talked about that _berdache_ with the McCormick Brothers’ traveling show.” Josiah looked at Nathan, serious and a little sad. “I didn’t tell you, or advise the others to tell you, because Vin and Ezra both look on you as a brother. I wouldn’t like to see them hurt.”

Nathan frowned. “What’s a _berdache_? If you mean that funny cowboy who was livin’ like he was a woman, that ain’t nothin’ like Vin or Ezra.”

Josiah just looked at Nathan a moment, bemused. “A _berdache_ is a man who chooses to live as a woman, yes. Most wouldn’t draw a line between that and men like Vin and Ezra, though.”

Nathan snorted. “Then they're stupid. Ezra only wore that dress the once, and it was for a good cause.” He paused slightly and then looked bemused. “Though I guess it shoulda told me somethin’ that Vin thought that up, an’ he and Chris managed to talk Ezra into doin’ it.”

Josiah grinned, looking at the trail again. “That was a memorable day, for a fact. Vin and I had a hell of a time gettin’ Ezra into that corset.”

Nathan snickered. “I remember hearin’ him yell. I thought he just might shoot you two a few times.”

“It was a near thing,” Josiah agreed, laughing. “He wore his Remington even with that pretty dress, strapped to the inside of his thigh with a couple strips of buckskin. I haven’t a clue how he managed to sashay around like he did.”

“I don’t wanna know any more of the particulars,” Nathan said firmly, amused. “I’d like to know just how long y’all have been keepin’ me in the dark, though. I was sure Chris an’ Vin had something goin’ on a year ago.”

Josiah chuckled, looking over at Nathan. “They were both pining from afar until the last day of that trip they took after the men who killed Rory Calhoun. From what I understand, they got caught in a storm that day with no shelter, and things got a little out of hand.”

Nathan blinked, surprised. “I saw ‘em the day after they got back, an’ they didn’t seem different.” He paused, thinking back, then added, “Well, Chris was about as cheerful as I’d ever seen him, but I figured that was because they did so well by the widow and her boy.”

Josiah grinned. “Chris was smug about that too, Nathan, but from all I saw of them that evening, it was Vin that put the smile on his face. I had dinner with them after they returned Lorrie’s horses, and Chris could hardly take his eyes off of Vin.” He chuckled, adding, “And Ezra knew all about it, too. Every time Chris dropped out of the conversation to stare at Vin a little more, Ezra did his best to distract me.”

Nathan looked over at Josiah, bemused. “I thought Chris said Ezra had been keepin’ his distance.”

“He has been,” Josiah agreed, nodding. “Ezra’s been fightin’ himself mighty hard to keep from takin’ the invitations Chris and Vin have been tossing his way the last month or so. He lasted longer than I ever thought he would, as much as he loves those two.”

Nathan was quiet a moment and then asked, “How is it they can stand it, Josiah? There bein’ three of ‘em, I mean.”

“That’s not something I can answer for any man but myself, Nathan.” Josiah looked at Nathan a moment and then made a decision, looking at the trail as he went on. “You know I was about Vin’s age when I went to live with the Cheyenne for a year or two. What I haven’t talked about, at least with you, is why I stayed a lot longer than that.” He smiled, remembering a delicate face and dark eyes that always seemed to be laughing. “His name was Clear Trails, and he was married to a warrior called Kills With Caution.” He glanced at Nathan, who looked surprised but not condemning, and then looked back at the trail. “Kills With Caution was a generous man, even though he loved Clear Trails. He could see the affection between us, but he let us dance around it for more than a year before he decided we were being silly. He sent Clear Trails to my furs one night, and after that I shared a tipi with them both for the last two years I was in their camp.”

Nathan rode along next to Josiah in silence for a long while before he asked slowly, “If you loved him, why’d you leave?”

Josiah smiled wryly, looking over at Nathan. “I said affection, brother, not love. Seeing the real thing day after day, even though Clear Trails and Kills With Caution welcomed me into their home and their lives, got to be more than I could take. Clear Trails saw I was getting restless and took it into his own hands to make me do something about it.” He looked ahead again. “He woke me before dawn one morning and asked me to come outside with him. He had put my saddle on his best mare, a sorrel war bonnet paint he had named Windwalker. My gear was packed on the gelding I had ridden into the camp, and he told me it was time for me to find my own forever.” He chuckled softly, looking down at where his hands rested on the wide horn of his Mexican saddle for a moment before he looked over at Nathan again, smiling. “He said I would know her when I met her, but I guess the good Lord’s not ready for me to settle down just yet.”

Nathan looked confused and a little bemused. “You sure it’ll be a lady?”

Josiah chuckled. “There’s never been a man in my bed that didn’t have red skin, Nathan. I don’t meet too many _berdaches_ these days, or warriors who lean that way either, for that matter. If that’s where I’m supposed to be looking, I’ll likely stay alone. I couldn’t live among the tribes full time anymore. I do enjoy a visit when I can, but I don’t stay long enough for something like that to develop.” He paused and then added, “And of the white men I’ve known who were inclined that way, none of them inspired such feelings.”

“Not even Ezra?” Josiah looked at Nathan quickly, surprised, and Nathan added, “I caught you lookin’ at him a few times, Josiah. Since I heard Chris talkin’ to Peso that day, I always wondered if there might be a little somethin’ between you an’ Ezra, too.”

Josiah smiled, amused. “A little something, yes, but not enough. Not when Vin owns his heart and Chris owns his soul.”

“He feels that deep for them?”

Josiah nodded. “And more, I think.” He smiled wider and then chuckled slightly. “If he had never met them, I think Ezra and I might have been closer than we are, but he did. He’s been fighting himself since the first morning he rode out to the Seminole village with us against all his survival instincts.”

“I got that feelin’ myself a few times,” Nathan agreed, nodding. “Never noticed it was Chris he was sweet on, though. I figured he just stuck around because he an’ Vin are so close.”

“It’s definitely Chris,” Josiah said, amused. “Ezra loves Vin too, don’t mistake me there, but not quite the way he feels about Chris.”

“I guess that’s only fair,” Nathan said thoughtfully after a moment. “The way Vin an’ Chris are, I mean.”

“Fair has nothing to do with it,” Josiah said, grinning at Nathan. “It’s just another sign of how alike Vin and Ezra are, deep down. Those two know each other inside and out, and they both see things in Chris no one else likely ever will.”

Nathan nodded slowly. “I can see how that’d be. Vin and Ezra are both mighty skittish about anyone but Chris touchin’ ‘em.” He looked at Josiah again, amused. “Except for you.”

Josiah smiled. “They know my motives, Nathan, and that I accept them as they are. They’ve both had bad experiences that make it hard for them to let just anyone get too close. It’s not about trust so much as it is about fear.”

“They’re scared of me?” Nathan asked, surprised.

“Not of you, but of any man touching them too much. You usually only touch either of them when they’re hurt, and then you’re usually trying to strip off their clothes. They’re afraid of their own reactions.” Josiah saw that Nathan looked even more confused and his smile turned wry as he got a bit more to the point. “They were both celibate for a long time, Nathan. Years in Ezra’s case, I know. Vin got dragged into a brothel a few times since we’ve met him, but that’s not really the same to a man who would rather be with another man.”

Nathan’s eyes widened. “You mean they're afraid they'll get—“ He broke off, not even wanting to say it, then blurted, “How in hell am I supposed to patch ‘em up when they get shot without touchin’ them?!”

Josiah laughed. “It’s not that they mind being touched, it’s the fear their body will react and you’ll notice, Nathan. You know now, though, and things have changed for them, too. They’re not being celibate and watchin’ men they love walk around looking like pure sin with them afraid to do anything about it, not anymore. They've got what they needed.”

“Pure sin?” Nathan echoed faintly, still wide-eyed.

“That was Ezra’s description of Chris and Vin, on a particularly bad day,” Josiah explained, amused. “He has been getting rather frustrated, spending his weekends with them but not letting himself accept what they were offering, and he drank most of two bottles of bourbon last Sunday after he rode back to town.”

Nathan just stared at Josiah a moment and then looked ahead at the trail. “I knew he got good an’ drunk, and that you had to help him to bed.”

“We had a nice long talk, though I doubt he remembers it. He didn’t remember I had stripped him and put him in bed the next day. He was fit to be tied wanting to know who Inez had let into his room until I told him I did it and to stop actin’ silly.” Josiah chuckled softly. “The look on his face was worth him stomping my toes on the way upstairs.”

Nathan snickered, looking at Josiah again. “Talked about Chris an’ Vin, huh?”

“Among other things,” Josiah said, nodding with a smile. “Ezra has been a lonely man for a long, long time, but even lonely as he was, he hasn’t been able to let himself trust enough to end it. Whatever Vin and Chris did to finally persuade him they were serious, it must have been something drastic. Ezra went on and on about all the ways they’ve been trying to tempt him into, as he put it, a fling.” Josiah snorted, grinning. “As if Vin or Chris either one sleeps with every pretty man he sees.”

Nathan snickered. “Hell, I can’t hardly wrap my mind around Chris wantin’ any man, even Vin. I’d never believe it if I hadn’t seen the way they look at each other when they think no one’s watchin’. He had a _wife_.”

Josiah laughed, looking at Nathan. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“He likes women,” Nathan said, bemused. “Likes ‘em a lot goin’ by how long he stays whenever he goes wanderin’ off to a brothel.”

Josiah grinned. “I like the ladies myself, Nathan, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a fine looking man. Sometimes life isn’t a cut and dry either/or. There are more shades of grey in nature than there are colors.”

Nathan thought about that and then nodded. “I can see that, I guess. Chris don’t look at every man who walks by him, not the way he looks at the ladies, but the way he looks at Vin, them pretty ladies might as well be cattle.”

“For Chris, I think it comes down to feelings,” Josiah agreed with a smile, nodding. “He and Vin had a connection from the start, I think, but it took it a long time to develop into more because the idea of loving a man was so foreign to Chris.”

“And Ezra?” Nathan asked, curious. “I never noticed him lookin’ at Ezra like he did today.”

Josiah chuckled. “Chris knew he cared about Ezra, and that Vin has loved Ezra for a long while now, but I think it snuck up on Chris how deep his own feelings really go.”

“I guess I can see how that might happen,” Nathan said, nodding slowly. “With everything between them him an’ Vin, it ain’t no wonder Chris didn’t think too hard on Ezra.”

Josiah glanced over at Nathan again, amused. “Especially when you consider he never looked at any man until after he met Vin, and hasn’t exactly been spreading his attention around since then, either.”

Nathan blinked. “So he does just like women, except for Vin?” He paused slightly and then added, “Well, Vin an’ Ezra.”

Josiah nodded. “That’s what I understand from Vin and Ezra. I've seen for myself that Chris doesn’t really notice any man unless he’s already developed serious feelings for him. Even then, it takes a lot to send his thoughts that way.” He laughed and then went on, “But once he notices, it’s a different story.”

Nathan snickered. “I noticed him watchin’ Ezra today like he wanted to make a meal out of him.”

“He knows what he’s been missing now,” Josiah agreed, smirking. “He’s rather slow about that kind of thing.” Their horses topped a hill then and suddenly they could see a wagon passing on the main trail about a quarter of a mile away. Josiah looked at Nathan, smiling as he said, “And much as I’m enjoying our conversation, my friend, I think it might be a good idea to change the subject to something a little less dangerous to our brothers.”

Nathan nodded, grinning as he teased, “Maybe we should talk about how you’re gonna be late as hell. Mary’s liable to tan your hide for you.”

Josiah grinned. “She’ll have to catch me first.” He gave Seeker his head and the chestnut broke into an easy gallop down the hill.

Josiah could hear Nathan laughing as he kicked Foxy into a gallop after them.

 

 

~ End


End file.
